I recently started a petition to encourage Eurostar trains to resume calling at stations in Kent especially at Ashford on their way to the continent. Services making use of the state-of-the-art international station at Ashford have been suspended since before Covid with no firm promise of a resumption any time soon even though the station is still called, misleadingly, “International”.
At present, in order to catch a train to the continent, people from our corner of the UK have to make a journey up to London St Pancras to catch a train crossing the Channel to Paris, Brussels and beyond with the extra expense and wasted time. Previously this was one of the beauties of the service, travelling by train from city centre to city centre, no long journeys out to and in from airports. Now that all been lost by the extra travelling time needed to get to London only to return through Ashford non-stop to France, not to mention aircraft emissions.
My petition which has raised over 17,000 signatures so far was entitled “Bring Back Eurostar services to Kent” but in fact this applies just as much to East Sussex. Indeed anyone from Eastbourne and to the east of there wouldn’t have needed to travel to London but simply caught the Marshlink train from Eastbourne, through Bexhill, Hastings and Rye to Ashford.
The MP for Ashford has agreed to take up the matter with Eurostar if 20,000 signatures are reached. At present we are rather stalled, short of that number but if people in the Rye News catchment area were to sign, then the 20,000 would become attainable. Please if you agree that resumed services to the near continent from Ashford International is important for both business travellers and holidaymakers in this area, then add your name to the petition and let others know about it.
https://www.change.org/p/bring-back-eurostar-train-services-to-kent
Thank you,
Keith Hillier-Palmer
