Ashford International railway station

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Ashford International
Location
Place	Ashford, Kent
Local authority	Borough of Ashford
Operations
Station code	AFK
Managed by	Southeastern
Platforms in use	6
Live departures and station information from National Rail
Annual Rail Passenger Usage
2004/05 *	2.286 million
2005/06 *	2.408 million
History
1 December 1842	Opened as "Ashford"
9 July 1923	Renamed "Ashford (Kent)"
8 January 1996	Commencement of Eurostar services
28 February 1996	Official opening of "Ashford International"[1]
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Ashford International from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.
UK Railways Portal

Eurostar route map (before Channel Tunnel rail link)
Legend 0:00 Waterloo International 0:50 Ashford International Channel Tunnel (0:21 transit) 1:15 Calais-Fréthun 1:40 Lille-Europe 2:15 Brussels-South 2:35 Paris Gare du Nord 2:53 Marne la Vallée-Chessy (Disneyland) 6:00 Avignon Centre 6:47 Moûtiers (ski) 7:19 Aime la Plagne (ski: set down only) 7:37 Bourg Saint Maurice (ski) Times shown are fastest timetabled journey from London Waterloo.

Ashford International railway station serves Ashford in Kent, England. Services are provided by Southeastern, Southern and Eurostar.

International services use platforms 3 & 4, whilst domestic trains use the original platforms 1 & 2, and a new island (platforms 5 & 6) built when the Channel Tunnel opened. While all tracks are electrified with 750 V DC third rail, platforms 3-6 are also electrified with 25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead line.

Contents 1 Services 2 History 3 CTRL DS 4 External links 5 References

[edit] Services

The typical domestic off-peak service from the station is:

• 4tph (trains per hour) to London Charing Cross, which run via Sevenoaks
• 1tph to London Cannon Street via Maidstone East
• 1tph to London Victoria via Maidstone East
• 2tph to Dover Priory of which one continues to Ramsgate
• 3tph to Canterbury West, of which two continue to Ramsgate and one of those continues to Margate
• 1tph to Brighton via the Marshlink Line

As well as these domestic services, every day 4 Eurostar trains serve the station heading towards Paris (3 trains) or Disneyland Paris, and 4 trains serve the station heading towards London (St Pancras International).

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Charing		Southeastern Maidstone East Line		Terminus
Terminus		Southeastern Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line		Wye
Pluckley		Southeastern South Eastern Main Line		Westenhanger
Ham Street		Southern Marshlink Line		Terminus
Ebbsfleet International		Eurostar High Speed 1		Calais-Fréthun via the Channel Tunnel
		Under construction
Ebbsfleet International		Southeastern High Speed 1 London-Margate (not yet operational)		Wye
		Southeastern High Speed 1 London-Folkestone (not yet operational)		Sandling
Disused Railways
Ham Street		South Eastern Railway (UK) Marshlink Line		Terminus

[edit] History

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 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 and the structures were similar in design to the platform canopies that survive at Ramsgate station.

The station was rebuilt as Ashford International during the early 1990s for international services from the continent; 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.

[edit] CTRL DS

Before the opening 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 station. No Brussels-bound trains now stop at the station, meaning passengers must instead change at Lille for Brussels; the connecting service runs just once a day and requires an hour's wait in Lille. The withdrawal of Brussels services has also effectively meant the loss for Ashford passengers of onward connections via Brussels to Germany and the Netherlands. ^[2]

It should be noted that it is not permitted to use Eurostar services for journeys solely between Ashford and London. International trains from London only pick passengers up at Ashford and do not set down. Similarly, international trains to London only set down passengers at Ashford and do not pick up.

The opening of Ebbsfleet continues to generate considerable controversy, located on a greenfield site, and dependent almost entirely on road access, and initial passenger usage has not been encouraging despite considerable publicity and two 'openings' in its initial three months of trading. In contrast to Ebbsfleet, Ashford is a junction for five different railway lines serving destinations throughout Kent and along the Sussex Coast to Brighton. Eurostar has been accused of acting like an airline wannabe by failing to integrate its services into the national rail network and ignoring a cross-party campaign encompassing MPs, MEPs, local government and rail user groups urging it to reconsider its downgrading of Ashford.

From 2009, Southeastern will operate high-speed services from Ashford International to London St Pancras International via High Speed 1. Journey time will take approximately 35 minutes with two trains an hour on average. The Class 395 train sets are being specially built by Hitachi and the first trains having been delivered in 2007 for advance testing.

[edit] External links

• Train times and station information for Ashford International railway station from National Rail
• BVE Trainsim simulation from Ashford to Swanley

[edit] References

Coordinates: 51°8′36.95″N, 0°52′28.13″E