Ashford International railway station

Ashford International Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Location	Borough of Ashford
Managed by	Southeastern
Platforms	6
Other information
Station code	AFK
Key dates
1 December 1842	Opened as "Ashford"
9 July 1923	Renamed "Ashford (Kent)"
8 January 1996	Commencement of Eurostar services
28 February 1996	Rebuilt and renamed "Ashford International"

Ashford International railway station (IATA: QDH) 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 by British Rail 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.

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 & 4 is only possible through an overbridge from the international terminal. The local bus stops are located at the entrance to the domestic terminal. The international terminal is connected to a multi-storey car park via a footbridge and also to the nearby Ashford Designer Outlet by a signposted footpath.

History

The present station was opened by the South Eastern Railway (SER) on 1 December 1842, and 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.

Another station (Ashford West) was opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway on 1 July 1884 for services via Maidstone East to London. This only lasted 15 years until 1 January 1899 when passenger services were diverted to the former South Eastern Railway station. Remarkably 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.

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 before rebuilding by 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 previous station entrance, dating from the 1990s

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. 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 manned for part of the day.

International services

Eurostar services
Dortmund Essen Duisburg Düsseldorf Airport Amsterdam Centraal Düsseldorf Schiphol Airport Cologne Rotterdam Centraal Aachen Netherlands Belgium Germany Belgium Antwerpen-Centraal Liège London Brussels Channel Tunnel UK France Belgium France Lille Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Marne-la-Vallée– Chessy summer seasonal service   winter seasonal service (discontinued) Valence TGV Chambéry Avignon TGV Albertville Aix-en-Provence TGV Moûtiers-Salins-Brides-les-Bains Marseille-Saint-Charles Aime-La Plagne Landry Bourg-Saint-Maurice
Direct cross-Channel service available Direct cross-Channel service not available

International services started on 8 January 1996. Before the completion 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 International station to 3 trains to Paris and a daily service to Disneyland Paris. A direct train for Brussels was reinstated in 2009. From May 2015 a new all-year service to Marseille runs up to five times a week. Seasonal Ski trains also run in the winter months to Bourg-Saint-Maurice in the French Alps. It is not permitted to use Eurostar services for domestic journeys to and from London; however, a high-speed domestic service operated by Southeastern to London St Pancras began on 29 June 2009.

Services

As of 16 September 2015, the typical off-peak timetable is:

• Southeastern
  • 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 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 Brighton via the Marshlink Line
• Eurostar
  • 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).

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Ebbsfleet International		Eurostar High Speed 1		Calais-Fréthun
Ebbsfleet International		Southeastern High Speed 1 London-Margate		Canterbury West
		Southeastern High Speed 1 London-Dover		Folkestone West
Pluckley		Southeastern South East Main Line		Westenhanger
		Southeastern Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) Line		Wye
Charing		Southeastern Maidstone Line		Terminus
Terminus		Southern Marshlink Line		Ham Street
	Disused railways
Pluckley		British Rail Southern Region South Eastern Main Line		Smeeth
Hothfield		British Rail Southern Region Maidstone Line		Terminus

See also

• Ashford railway works
• Ashford Steam Centre
• Ashford train depot

References

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.

External links

• Train times and station information for Ashford International railway station from National Rail
• Ashford Station in the 1866 edition of Bradshaw's Descriptive Railway Hand-Book of Great Britain & Ireland
• QDH on theAirDB
• Airport information for Ashford International railway station at Transport Search website.
• BVE Trainsim simulation from Ashford to Swanley
• Ashford International Rail Information.
• Station on navigable 1946 O. S. map