Ashford Borough Council and Kent County Council have stepped up their campaign to secure international trains at Ashford by launching a survey.

Eurostars have not called at Ebbsfleet or Ashford since 2020, but the councils say direct trains to mainland Europe are a ‘top priority’.

However, they conceded that Eurostar and potentially other operators will need to be convinced that there is a business case.

The survey has been designed by a local campaign group, Bring Back Euro Trains. It asks respondents to consider their ‘ideal journey’, saying where they would like to travel and how often they would use international rail services if trains called at Ashford again.

The councils say almost 14,000 people have already registered their interest, and they want to hear from more people.

Kent County Council leader Linden Kemkaran said: ‘Kent has always been the UK’s gateway to Europe, so it cannot be right that our residents, businesses and visitors have been denied direct access to international rail services from Ashford and Ebbsfleet for more than five years.

‘We now have a real opportunity to bring these services back, but we need to show operators that there is a strong and sustainable market for international travel from Kent.

‘Every person who takes three minutes to take this survey helps build that case.’

Ashford council leader Cllr Noel Ovenden added: ‘This is about much more than convenience. Restoring international rail services to Ashford would reconnect our borough to Europe, unlock growth, support our visitor economy, help local businesses and give people across Kent and the wider southeast a greener and easier way to travel.’

Eurostar has said that it will review the status of its Kent stations this year, and that the situation is being ‘closely monitored’.

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