Ashford International railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ashford International | |
 |
|
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | Ashford, Kent |
| Local authority | Borough of Ashford |
| Operations | |
| Station code | AFK |
| Managed by | Southeastern |
| Platforms in use | 6 |
| Annual entry/exit 04/05 | 2.286 million ** |
| History | |
| Key dates | Opened 1996 [1] |
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |
| ** based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at Ashford International. Disclaimer (PDF) | |
Ashford International railway station serves Ashford in Kent. Services are provided by Southeastern, Southern and Eurostar.
International services use platforms 3 & 4, whilst domestic trains utilise the original platforms 1 & 2, and a new island (platforms 5 & 6) built when the Channel Tunnel opened. While all tracks are electrified with 750v DC third rail, platforms 3-6 are also electrified with 25kV 50 Hz AC overhead line.
The typical domestic off-peak service from the station is:
- 4tph (trains per hour) to London Charing Cross, of which three run via Tonbridge and one via Maidstone East
- 1tph to London Cannon Street via Maidstone East
- 1tph to London Victoria via Maidstone East
- 2tph to Dover Priory of which one continues to Ramsgate
- 3tph to Canterbury West, of which one continues to Margate and one of those continues to Ramsgate
- 1tph to Brighton via the Marshlink Line
As well as these domestic services, every day 12 Eurostar trains serve the station heading towards Paris (7 trains) or Brussels (5), and 18 trains serve the station heading towards London (Waterloo International) (9 from Paris and 9 from Brussels).
On 12 September 2006 it was announced that when the Channel Tunnel Rail Link is completed (to be branded High Speed 1/HS1 from the intended 14th November 2007 opening date) and only three trains a day to Paris and one to Disneyland Paris will stop at Ashford because of the opening of Ebbsfleet station. No Brussels-bound trains will stop at the station, meaning passengers must instead change at Lille for Brussels. [2] It should be noted that it is not permitted to use Eurostar services for journeys solely between Ashford and London. International trains from London only pick passengers up at Ashford and do not set down. Similarly, International trains to London only set down passengers at Ashford and do not pick up.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Ashford International railway station from National Rail
- Street map and aerial photo of Ashford International railway station from Multimap.com
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charing | Southeastern Ashford via Maidstone East Line |
Terminus | ||
| Terminus | Southeastern Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line |
Wye | ||
| Pluckley | Southeastern London to Dover via Ashford |
Westenhanger | ||
| Terminus | Southeastern Kent Coast Line |
Westenhanger | ||
| Ham Street | Southern Marshlink Line |
Terminus | ||
| London Waterloo International |
Eurostar | Calais-Fréthun via the Channel Tunnel |
||
| under construction | ||||
| Ebbsfleet International |
Eurostar CTRL (not yet operational) |
Calais-Fréthun via the Channel Tunnel |
||
| Ebbsfleet International |
Southeastern CTRL-DS London-Margate (not yet operational) |
Wye | ||
| Southeastern CTRL-DS London-Folkestone (not yet operational) |
Sandling | |||
