Ashford International railway station is a National Rail station in Ashford, Kent, England. It connects several railway lines, including High Speed 1 and the South Eastern Main Line. Services are operated by Southeastern and Southern.
The station opened in 1842 as Ashford by the South Eastern Railway (SER) as a temporary terminus of the line from London to Dover via Croydon. Connections to Folkestone, Canterbury and Hastings opened within ten years. It was renamed Ashford (Kent) in 1923. There have been two significant rebuilds; in the 1960s for the South Eastern Main Line electrification, and to accommodate international services in the 1990s. The station was renamed as Ashford International in 1996. International services were reduced following the completion of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and the opening of in 2007, but were partially restored before being suspended indefinitely in 2020. Domestic services along High Speed 1 to St Pancras have been running since 2009. The station runs services by Southeastern, Southeastern High Speed, Southern & Eurostar (1994-2020, services returning in 2025).
Location and services
The station is to the southeast of the town centre at the convergence of several important lines. These are High Speed 1 from London St Pancras International to the Channel Tunnel, the South Eastern Main Line from London Charing Cross to , the Maidstone line from London Victoria via , the Ashford to Ramsgate line via and the Marshlink line to . It is down the line from Charing Cross (via ) and from Victoria (via ). 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 station has six platforms. Eurostar trains have previously used 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. The Eurostar platforms have bilingual signs, in both French and English. 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 and taxi ranks are at the entrance to the domestic terminal.
There are ticket office windows in the domestic booking hall, as well as ticket vending machines. There has been a domestic ticket office window in the Eurostar station, staffed during morning peak only. The international ticket counter in the Eurostar station was only staffed for part of the day. The international terminal is connected to a multi-storey car park by a footbridge, while other parking facilities are adjacent to the domestic entrance.
History
South Eastern Railway
The station was built by the South Eastern Railway (SER) and planned during the initial Railway Mania as a stop between Croydon and Dover. A special train from ran on 28 November 1842, and the station formally opened on 1 December, along with the rest of the line from Redhill. The journey from London to Ashford could now be made in three and a half hours. A more direct route was ruled out by Parliament, who felt that more than one railway south of London was undesirable.
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. A connection to Canterbury West was authorised on 23 May 1844, and opened on 6 February 1846. The Marshlink line connection to Hastings opened on 13 February 1851, after several false starts owing to problems with constructing the line and rivalry with other lines. The station became known sometimes as Ashford Junction.
The Ashford railway works was established in 1847, on a site to the east of the station and the River Stour. The first locomotive, known as the "Coffee Pot" for its unusual vertical boiler, was designed there the following year and constructed in 1850. It remained in service until 1861. The works led to the creation of Alfred Town, later known at New Town which is now an Ashford suburb.
Another station, , was opened by the rival London, Chatham & Dover Railway (LCDR) on 1 July 1884 for services via Maidstone East to London. It was based to the southwest of the town centre, adjacent to the cattle market. A link from the LCDR line to the SER station opened on 1 November 1891.