Council leaders and MPs call for international railways links to reopen in Kent

A cross-party coalition of council leaders and MPs have called for international railway links to reopen in Kent to save “struggling” industries.

Ashford and Ebbsfleet stations were purpose built for international travel, but neither has seen a European-bound train stop at their platforms since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

On Friday, Kent County Council (KCC) hosted an event to entice “competitors” to Eurostar, and underline the desire for renewed railway links with the continent.

Standing on a podium in Ashford International, beside a large poster advertising Disneyland Paris, Lord Peter Hendy, the Rail Minister, voiced his support for the campaign.

“We all agree here that international rail services are hugely beneficial to the areas and communities they serve, providing sustainable, fast and convenient connections to Europe,” he said.

He added that international rail travel has “bounced back” since the Covid-19 pandemic but that services have remained cut, although others suggested Brexit was being ignored as a reason for the shut down.

Antony Hook, the Liberal Democrat opposition leader of KCC said: “The idea it’s because of Covid is just rubbish because Covid has been and gone and everything else has come back, things like this that had a connection to Europe have not.

“That’s because you’ve got to think about the different types of passengers Eurostar used to have, so pre-Brexit everyone in the UK had the right to work in Europe and vise-versa”.

Along with people no longer commuting for work on the continent, there are also 50% less EU students studying in Britain, who would be regular users of the service, Cllr Hook said.

Reform’s KCC leader Linden Kemkaran dismissed his concerns as trying to be “too clever” saying “Brexit’s got absolutely nothing to do” with the current state of the services.

Cllr Kekaran and others shared their experiences of the convenience of Kent’s international links at their best, and warned that Kent’s tourism industry is “suffering terribly” without it.

Susie Warran-Smith CBE, Chair of Produced in Kent addressed Lord Hendry on behalf of food producers and hospitality in the county: “We are really struggling, it’s really really hard out there, so whilst it’s great sitting in this building when you leave can you please all remember this is about people’s jobs and we are struggling.”

A petition with over 75,000 signatures calling for a reintroduction of Kent’s international rail links was presented formally to the government during the event.

Olivier Morel, a lawyer who specialises in Franco-British projects, spoke of the convenience and importance of international stations to business people.

He said: “In the old days, the glorious pre-Brexit days, your young French entrepreneur would jump on the Eurostar come to London either to do a bar job, to start a business, they was a sort of easy flow, and the other way was probably a lot of tourists, so that was priceless.”

Mr Morel, like the majority of the guests at the event, wants to see more competition with Eurostar, and a return of Kent’s international stations, which the Good Growth Foundation suggest could bring £500 million a year to Kent’s tourist industry.

The next step will rest with the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) which will decide whether their depots have the capacity for a new train operator to join the lines.

Lord Hendy has written to the ORR to encourage it to support the reintroduction of these international services in Kent.

Asked whether there was more his Government could be doing to combat Eurostar’s monopoly on international travel, he pointed out that the Conservatives sold off their share in the company in 2015.

“I’ve used every attempt at moral assuages that I can but we have no purchase on them other than promoting competition, so that’s why we’re promoting competition,” said Lord Hendy.

The new introduction of Entry/Exit System (EES) checks at UK-EU borders to be phased in from October 12, mean Ashford and Ebbsfleet would likely need those systems installed before they could be operational again.

The EES systems installed at London St Pancras have reportedly cost £11 million and similar facilities would be needed at Kent stations.

French national assembly member Vincent Caure said that overhaul is “not a lot of money” compared to “all of the economic opportunities” attached to the renewed rail connections.

Leaders were quick to stress that this was a “long term” project despite calls from some audience members that the stations are “ready now” for international passengers.