Trains at Ashford International, SEML & HS1, 22/05/26

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 Ebbsfleet International 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 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 London Bridge 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 station became part of the Southern Railway (SR) during the grouping of 1923.

It was renamed to Ashford (Kent) on 9 July to avoid confusion with Ashford (Middlesex) railway station.

Ashford became the main works depot in the south east after the SR reduced the works at Brighton to repairs-only in 1928. Steam locomotive construction was discontinued in 1936, though repair work continued to take place.

The station was rebuilt as Ashford International to serve trains to mainland Europe.

Construction was planned to begin in 1991 but delayed owing to a lack of government approval. It was planned as a partial park and ride side, catering for up to 2,000 vehicles, and as a means of regenerating the town. Work started on the rebuilding in June 1994 and continued for 18 months.

The project was designed by the British Rail Architecture and Design Group, and was inspired by the Maison de Verre, Paris.

Two new platforms were built to the north of the station, with the original down island platform taken over by international services.

The total cost of the work was £80 million. The platforms reallocated for international services needed to be lengthened to 412 metres (1,352 ft) in order to accommodate the 392-metre (1,286 ft) British Rail Class 373 trains used by Eurostar.

The Marshlink line from Ashford International to Ore is one of the few in the south east that has not yet been electrified, and is mostly single track beyond Appledore, which limits capacity.

In May 2018, Southern announced the direct service from Ashford International to Brighton via Eastbourne would be discontinued.

The company wanted to cancel the service for some time, as it would allow them to add additional capacity between Eastbourne and Hastings, but had repeatedly faced objections from councillors along the line, including at Lewes.

Duration of the video: 09:21 - 12:04

We’ll be seeing services by Southeastern, Southern and Eurostar as well.

I hope you enjoy this video if you did smash that like button and don’t forget to subscribe for more upcoming videos and feel free to leave any comments or recommendations of stations that you would like for me to do in the comments below as I’ll try respond back to them as soon as possible.

It’s been at least a few years or so since I last revisited Ashford International but it’s always an enjoyable station to train spot at though plus it was a positive that I managed to see a pair of Eurostar 373’s bypass which is always nice to see and some Southeastern 377’s as well including a pair of Southern 377/1’s which was unexpected but was nice to see in the duration of the time that I spent there.

My next station will be Stratford International which is situated on the HS1 network it’s been a long while since I last done any train spotting there but it’s always a nice place to revisit so until then thanks for watching and I’ll see you in the next video.