I wrote to Sir Richard Branson to welcome the news that Virgin Rail has been approved to operate trains from England to France. I was clear: trains leaving London must stop at Ashford and Ebbsfleet, and I offered him my full support in achieving this. Stopping at Kent provides an immediate, ready-made market: a population of over a million, eager to use these services from day one – as we did before the pandemic. The demand here is real and growing.
Richard Branson thanked me for my support for the “exciting project” and said he understands “how important this is for Kent”. I was told that Virgin recognise the strong public interest in restoring international services at Ashford and Ebbsfleet, and they’re committed to working with me and other stakeholders to explore the feasibility of this.
I’m also on a committee of Kent MPs in Parliament who meet to discuss what more we can do. We recently met and are looking into how funding could be secured to reopen Ashford and Ebbsfleet stations – I’m also meeting with St Pancras’ Chief Commercial Officer to discuss this further. In the new year I’ll be meeting with Virgin to continue this fight. If you’d like to see these services return to Kent, please like and share this news – and follow me on Facebook for more updates.
