Rye's rail campaign group is welcoming the ending of Eurostar's monopoly but says it may be many years before international trains return to Ashford.
Last Thursday 30 October, the rail regulator - the Office for Rail and Road (ORR) - approved an application from Virgin Trains Europe (VTE) to use the Temple Mills International Depot in East London. The depot is the only one in the UK which can take the longer trains used in Europe and the Channel Tunnel.
Virgin Trains hopes to have a service running from London St Pancras by 2030.
The Marshlink Action Group (MLAG), which campaigns on behalf of local rail users, has supported the decision to open up the high speed rail line to competition for the first time in almost thirty years.
Stuart Harland, MLAG's press officer and former chairman, said, "MLAG made its representations to ORR in favour of extending the rail operating companies having access to the Temple Mills depot beyond Eurostar. A major factor emphasized by MLAG was to promote the restarting of international services from Ashford."
The decision was welcomed by Hastings and Rye MP Helena Dollimore. "This is about far more than just trains. It’s about new jobs, greater opportunities, stronger tourism, and reconnecting our communities with our European neighbours. It is an absolute no-brainer to get Ashford back into use. It would boost our local Sussex and Kent economy by over £2.5 billion, and I urge Virgin Trains and Richard Branson to seize this opportunity and reopen it."Trains to and from Europe last stopped at Ashford in 2020. Eurostar currently has no plans to resume services and is instead concentrating on trains linking London direct with other European cities.
The ORR decision is a step in the right direction said Stuart Harland, but a lot more work is needed. "The ORR’s decision, at this stage, does not commit VTE to restarting services from Ashford (or, indeed, any other station). The 2030 timescale is understandable in view of the work required to get a new rail service operating (not least the construction of the fleet of trains), and to re-establish the facilities required at Ashford to enable international services to operate from there again."
