Ashford International railway station

Ashford International
Location
Place	Ashford
Local authority	Borough of Ashford
Coordinates	51°08′37″N 0°52′28″E / 51.1436°N 0.87448°E / 51.1436; 0.87448Coordinates: 51°08′37″N 0°52′28″E / 51.1436°N 0.87448°E / 51.1436; 0.87448
Grid reference	TR011421
Operations
Station code	AFK
Managed by	Southeastern
Number of platforms	6
DfT category	B
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13	3.330 million
– Interchange	0.760 million
2013/14	3.481 million
– Interchange	0.803 million
2014/15	3.615 million
– Interchange	0.835 million
2015/16	3.765 million
– Interchange	0.815 million
2016/17	3.798 million
– Interchange	0.818 million
History
1 December 1842	Opened as "Ashford"
9 July 1923	Renamed "Ashford (Kent)"
8 January 1996	Commencement of Eurostar services
28 February 1996	Rebuilt and renamed "Ashford International"[1]
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Ashford International from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Ashford International railway station (IATA: QDH) is a National Rail international and regional station on the High Speed 1, South Eastern Main Line and Marshlink Line in England, United Kingdom, serving the town of Ashford, Kent. It is 56 miles 12 chains (90.4 km) down the line from London Charing Cross (measured via Chelsfield) and 59 miles 19 chains (95.3 km) from London Victoria (via Herne Hill)^[2] and is between Pluckley and Westenhanger stations on the main line. Domestic trains that call at Ashford are operated by Southeastern and Southern, and international services by Eurostar.

Eurostar trains use platforms 3 and 4, while domestic trains use the original platforms 1 and 2, and a new island platform (numbered 5 and 6) built by British Rail when the Channel Tunnel opened. While all tracks are electrified with 750 V DC third rail, platforms 3 to 6 are also electrified with 25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead lines.

The domestic terminal to the north of the tracks and the international terminal to the south are connected by a subway which has access to the platforms; access to the international trains on platforms 3 and 4 is only possible through an overbridge from the international terminal. The local bus stops are at the entrance to the domestic terminal. The international terminal is connected to a multi-storey car park by a footbridge and also to the nearby Ashford Designer Outlet by a signposted footpath.

History

The present station was built by the South Eastern Railway (SER) and planned during the initial Railway Mania as a stop between Croydon and Dover.^[3] A special train from London Bridge ran on 28 November 1842, and the station formally opened on 1 December, along with the rest of the line from Redhill.^[4] The original station consisted of two platforms with two through lines, along with wooden buildings. The line ended at Ashford until the extension to Folkestone opened on 28 June 1843.^[5]

The station became part of the Southern Railway during the grouping of 1923. The station then passed on to the Southern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

Another station (Ashford West) was opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway on 1 July 1884 for services via Maidstone East to London. This only lasted 15 years until 1 January 1899 when passenger services were diverted to the former South Eastern Railway station. Remarkably the complete station (buildings and platforms) survived for handling freight and engineering trains until it was closed and demolished around 1999 for construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

When sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s by British Rail, the present station was served by Network SouthEast until the privatisation of British Rail.

Ashford station before rebuilding by British Rail

Ashford station has been rebuilt on two occasions in recent history. The station layout up until the early 1960s consisted of two through tracks, two through platform loops and two bay platforms accessible from the east for terminating services.

For phase two of the Kent electrification scheme in 1962, the two bay platforms were converted into through platforms whilst the main station buildings on either side of the line were replaced by an overbridge including a booking hall, newsagent and catering facilities.

Although most of the original station was swept away during the early 1960s rebuild, two substantial platform canopies dating from the South Eastern & Chatham Railway (SECR) era were retained, albeit without their original wooden valence until the later rebuild of the 1990s. The supporting columns of these canopies were stamped with the date 1908.

The previous station entrance, dating from the 1990s

The station was rebuilt as Ashford International during the early 1990s for international services from mainland Europe; this included the addition of two platforms to the north of station (the original down island platform had been taken over by international services).

The majority of the overbridge and platform buildings from the early 1960s rebuild were destroyed during the rebuild of the early 1990s. A small section of the 1960s overbridge does remain however, as an emergency exit between the up island platform (platforms 1 and 2) and the up side car park.

Ticket vending facilities

There are ticket office windows in the domestic booking hall, as well as ticket vending machines.^[6] There is a domestic ticket office window in the Eurostar station, staffed during morning peak only. The international ticket counter in the Eurostar station is only staffed for part of the day.^[7]

International services

Eurostar services
h:mm 0:00 London St Pancras 0:14 Ebbsfleet International 0:29 Ashford International 0:31 British portal Channel Tunnel UK France border 0:51 French portal 0:55 Calais-Fréthun 1:22 Lille Europe France Belgium border 2:01 Brussels-South Belgium Netherlands border 3:01 Rotterdam Centraal 3:41 Amsterdam Centraal 2:16 Paris-Nord 2:40 Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy Seasonal and extended services 4:41 Lyon-Part-Dieu 5:49 Avignon TGV 6:27 Marseille-Saint-Charles   7:12 Moûtiers 7:30 Aime-La Plagne (set down only) 7:51 Bourg-Saint-Maurice
Fastest timetabled journeys from London St Pancras

International services started on 8 January 1996. Before the completion of High Speed 1 in November 2007, twelve Eurostar trains a day called, heading to Paris (7 trains) or Brussels (5). However this number was reduced because of the opening of Ebbsfleet International station to 2 or 3 trains to/from Paris and a daily service to Disneyland Paris. A direct train for Brussels was reinstated in 2009. From May 2015 a service to Marseille runs up to five times a week. Seasonal Ski trains also run at weekends in the winter months to Bourg-Saint-Maurice in the French Alps. It is not permitted to use Eurostar services for domestic journeys to and from London;^[8] however, a high-speed domestic service operated by Southeastern to London St Pancras began on 29 June 2009.^[9] This link has allowed Ashford to become a commuter town to London.^[10] The international part of the station has bilingual signs, both in French and English.

In 2018, it was announced that the international platforms would be undergoing a £10m refurbishment to make them compatible with Eurostar's Class 374 units branded as Eurostar e320, as well as allowing other operators to use the station.^[11]

Unfortunately, the station adaptations for the new e320 train were not done properly and are still a major issue today, so no e320 are able to stop at the station ^[12]. Eurostar doesn't communicate or manage very well the unplanned issues so most traffic from/to Ashford are diverted to Ebbsfleet.

So far only one e320 stop at the station with the Secretary of State for Transport, Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP on board. On the 3rd of April Network Rail written "The project has been delivered by Network Rail"^[13] but no other stops have occurred.

Services

As of May 2018, the typical off-peak timetable is:

• Southeastern^[14]
  • 2 tph (trains per hour) to London St Pancras direct via Ebbsfleet International and Stratford International
  • 2 tph to London Charing Cross, via Sevenoaks
  • 2 tph to London Victoria via Maidstone East
  • 2 tph to Dover Priory of which one continues to London St Pancras via Ramsgate and Faversham
  • 3 tph to Canterbury West, of which two continue to Ramsgate and one of those continues to Margate
• Southern
  • 1 tph to Eastbourne via the Marshlink Line^[15]

As of the Southern May 2018 new timetable, the fast service to Brighton has been discontinued. Now an Eastbourne stopping service has been introduced.

• Eurostar^[16][17]
  • 4 to 6 tpd (trains per day) to London St Pancras (set down only)
  • 3 tpd to Paris Nord (pick up only)
  • 1 tpd to Brussels Midi (pick up only)
  • Up to 7 tpw (trains per week) to Marne-la-Vallée - Chessy (Disneyland Paris) (pick up only)
  • Up to 5 tpw to Marseille – Saint-Charles via Lyon and Avignon (pick up only)
  • up to 2 tpw to Bourg-Saint-Maurice in the French Alps - seasonal service from December to April (pick up only).

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Ebbsfleet International		Southeastern High Speed 1		Canterbury West
Stratford International				Folkestone West
Pluckley		Southeastern South East Main Line		Westenhanger
		Southeastern Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) Line		Wye
Charing		Southeastern Maidstone Line		Terminus
Terminus		Southern Marshlink Line		Ham Street
	International services
St Pancras International		Eurostar High Speed 1 London-Paris		Paris Nord
Ebbsfleet International		Eurostar High Speed 1 London-Brussels/Chessy		Calais-Fréthun
	Disused railways
Waterloo International		Eurostar London to Paris/Brussels		Calais-Fréthun
Pluckley		British Rail Southern Region South Eastern Main Line		Smeeth
Hothfield		British Rail Southern Region Maidstone Line		Terminus

See also

• Ashford railway works
• Ashford Steam Centre
• Ashford train depot

References

Citations

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ashford International railway station.

• Train times and station information for Ashford International railway station from National Rail
• Ashford Station in the 1866 edition of Bradshaw's Descriptive Railway Hand-Book of Great Britain & Ireland
• QDH on theAirDB
• Airport information for Ashford International railway station at Search (for) Travel website.
• BVE Trainsim simulation from Ashford to Swanley
• Ashford International Rail Information.
• Station on navigable 1946 O. S. map