1. History

2. Ticket vending facilities

3. International services

4. Services

5. See also

6. References

7. External links

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Ashford International railway station {{airport codes|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 {{convert|56|mi|12|chain|km|lk=in}} down the line from London Charing Cross (measured via {{stnlnk|Chelsfield}}) and {{convert|59|mi|19|chain|km}} from {{stnlnk|London Victoria}} (via {{stnlnk|Herne Hill}})^[2] and is between {{rws|Pluckley}} and {{rws|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.{{sfn|Gray|1990|p=11}} A special train from {{rws|London Bridge}} ran on 28 November 1842, and the station formally opened on 1 December, along with the rest of the line from Redhill.{{sfn|Gray|1990|p=18}} 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.{{sfn|Gray|1990|p=19}} Another station ({{rws|Ashford West}}) was opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway on 1 July 1884 for services via Maidstone East to London.{{sfn|Grant|2017|p=352}} This only lasted 15 years until 1 January 1899 when passenger services were diverted to the former South Eastern Railway station. 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.

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.

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 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 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

International services

International services started on 8 January 1996. Before the completion of High Speed 1 in November 2007, twelve Eurostar trains a day called at Ashford, seven heading to Paris and five to Brussels. However, after the opening of Ebbsfleet International station, that number was reduced to two or three trains to/from Paris, and a daily service to Disneyland Paris. A direct train to Brussels was reinstated in 2009. In May 2015, a service to Marseille began running 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. Using Eurostar services for domestic journeys to and from London is not allowed,^[5]{{failed verification|date=August 2015}} but a high-speed domestic service, operated by Southeastern to London St Pancras, began on 29 June 2009.^[6] This link has allowed Ashford to become a commuter town for London.^[7] The international part of the station has bilingual signs, in both French and English.

In 2018, it was announced that the international platforms would undergo a £10m refurbishment to make them compatible with Eurostar's {{BRC|374}} units, branded as Eurostar e320, as well as to allow other operators to use the station.^[8]

So far only one Eurostar e320 has stopped at Ashford, with the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, on board. On the 3 April 2018, Network Rail wrote: "The project has been delivered by Network Rail"^[9] but no other stops have occurred.

Services

• Southeastern^[10]
  • 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 {{stnlnk|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^[11]

As of the Southern May 2018 new timetable,{{clarify timeframe|date=June 2018}} the fast service to Brighton has been discontinued. Now an Eastbourne stopping service has been introduced.

• Eurostar^[12][13]
  • 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).

• Alexander Pechersky
• Alexander Pen
• Alexander Penn
• Alexander Penn Wooldridge
• Alexander Penrose Cumming-Gordon
• Alexander Perceval
• Alexander Pereira Cardoso
• Alexander Peresvet
• Alexander Perezhogin
• Alexander Peter Cockburn
• Alexander Peter Ross
• Alexander Petrenko
• Alexander Petrie Campbell
• Alexander Petrov (chess player)
• Alexander petrovsky
• Alexander Petrovsky
• Alexander Petrunkevitch
• Alexander Peya
• Alexander Pfänder
• Alexander Piatigorsky
• Alexander Pichushkin
• Alexander Pichuzhkin
• Alexander Pilis
• Alexander Pines
• Alexander Pirnie