A Eurostar rival has promised to relaunch international train services from Kent if its €1bn (£867m) proposal is approved.
Italy’s state railway, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS), claims it is the best-placed competitor to challenge Eurostar’s intercontinental railway dominance.
Eurostar trains from Ashford International to Paris ceased in 2020. The operator confirmed this year that it had no plans to reinstate its services to mainland Europe from the station, but would review again in 2026.
FS is now poised to expand its services, telling The Independent it wants to reopen the route to France and “plans to establish its first international hub inside this station as early as the first months of 2026, if it gets the go-ahead to operate the London to Paris link.” Trains would stop in Kent after leaving London St Pancras before continuing to Paris Gare du Nord.
Francesco De Leo-Kaufmann, the international head of FS, has earmarked between €800 million (£693m) and €1 billion (£867m) to be “plugged into this project,” according to The Times.
“A clear portion of it will be dedicated to Ashford because we need to build up our innovation out there,” he said.
FS owns subsidiaries such as Trenitalia, in addition to a 30 per cent stake in Avanti West Coast. It also runs the C2C franchise between London and South Essex.
The status of the station was debated in Westminster on Tuesday, 14 October as local MPs called for the relaunch of services to Europe.
MP for Ashford Sojan Joseph said: “We need to seize this excellent opportunity and ensure that Ashford International becomes an international station once again.”
Last month, an event was held by Kent County Council at Ashford International in support of the resumption of services, which included the presentation of a 75,000-signature petition to the government.
Councillor Noel Ovenden, leader of Ashford council, told The Independent that it welcomes FS’s announcement and said Ashford International has “remained ready” to support European travel when the opportunity comes.
For any new projects to go ahead, the train operator will need to secure a principal approval from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), which will decide whether the UK’s international depots, currently used by Eurostar, can be opened up to multiple companies.
But FS is not the only operator bidding for a space on the international rail network. Richard Branson’s Virgin Trains sent a submission to the ORR in August, vying for the opportunity to run Channel Tunnel services.
Virgin proposed launching the routes in 2030, with trains running between London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, and has also said it would stop at Kent stations if they are reopened.
Read more: Council leaders and MPs call for international railways links to reopen in Kent
