Ashford’s international station has been out of use since the first Covid lockdown and is now a time capsule back to a pre-pandemic age. Locals say the town is struggling without it
Locals living in a “depressing” UK town are desperately calling for the return of one pre-pandemic thing. Residents and businesses in Ashford want Eurostar back in the town after a five-year hiatus, with many claiming the town centre has become “depressing” in the absence of the high-speed train service.
The Kent town’s once bustling international station has been eerily silent since the onset of the first Covid-19 lockdown, now resembling a time capsule stuck in pre-pandemic times complete with magazines from March 2020 gathering dust on its lounge tables.
Despite rising calls from both locals and officials, Eurostar trains have continued to bypass the desolate stations of Ashford, Ebbsfleet, and Stratford ever since the pandemic began, leaving the platforms empty and the surrounding areas struggling.
Kent councillors are lamenting the loss of 30,000 jobs that were dependent on the Eurostar stations, while residents say they miss the convenience of hopping over to Paris or Brussels for lunch and returning by tea time.
Locals are now complaining about the costly irony of having to trek all the way to London’s St Pancras International Station, only to pass their own dormant station en route to continental Europe.
In a recent discussion in the House of Commons, Ashford’s Labour MP Sojan Joseph brought up the issue, prompting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to throw his weight behind the movement, urging Eurostar to reconsider stopping at the neglected Kent stations.
However, residents in Ashford have expressed their disappointment with Sir Keir’s remarks, suggesting that the decision to reopen the town’s Eurostar station should be left to the company itself.
Residents and business owners are now calling on the government to exert pressure on Eurostar to bring back services to the station, hoping to stimulate growth in the struggling town.
One lifelong Ashford resident, 47 year old Giles, labelled the continued closure of the town’s station post-pandemic as “crazy”, especially after a £10m investment in signal upgrades in 2018.
“Obviously the Eurostar trains should be back,” Giles insisted.
“It was sneaky. Nobody was thinking about it during Covid so they killed it and haven’t brought it back.
“As soon as lockdown was over, people went, ‘Can we get the Eurostar?’, and it was like, ‘No, it’s not there anymore’.
Steve Sitton, representing the Green Party and a local entrepreneur, highlighted the severe impact the absence of Eurostar has had on Ashford’s hospitality, hotel, and taxi sectors.
“A lot of hotels have seen a downturn in people coming over to go to Europe,” lamented Mr Sitton, who operates the multi-use venue Coach Works In Ashford. A lot of people and businesses moved here for the transport connections.
“That resource has been taken away and it’s a real, real shame.”
Labour Councillor, Diccon Spain, from Ashford Borough Council (ABC), supported the call for an ultimatum to be given to Eurostar.
The 58-year-old, who is a spokesman for the Bring Back Euro Trains campaign group, suggested that perhaps it was a mistake for the UK government to sell its 40% stake in Eurostar for £757.1m to a consortium of Canadian and British investors back in 2015.
He said: “The government need to be driving (the reopening of the stations). We need them to level the playing field with incoming competitors. We have a huge opportunity here for growth.”
Long queues and significant delays at the Port of Dover and Channel Tunnel have deterred locals from using these routes to reach mainland Europe.
According to Eurostar’s former CEO, Jacques Damas, the COVID-19 pandemic, post-Brexit border complexities, and rising inflation had thwarted plans to revive services in Kent.
However, in a statement, the current Eurostar CEO, Gwendoline Cazenave, mentioned that while the company will reassess its position on the discontinued Kent stations in the future, they had only accounted for a small proportion of passengers prior to the pandemic.
She stated: “It’s important to note that before Covid, and before the merger, passengers boarding and alighting at Ashford and Ebbsfleet stations represented around 4% of our overall pax volume.
“While our current focus is on ensuring the growth and sustainability of our core routes from London, we are committed to reviewing our position regarding the reopening of services to Ashford and Ebbsfleet in the future.”
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