Press releases

‘Non!’ to international service cuts at Ashford

27.10.2006

Passenger Focus, the independent rail consumer watchdog, has spoken out against proposals to significantly cut international services calling at Ashford when the new Ebbsfleet station opens in October 2007.

Proposals mean that passengers from many parts of Kent and Sussex will be left with only a skeletal service from Ashford International.

Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive said: “To transfer so many services to a new station in one go is unacceptable. It is vital that there is a rebalancing of services to ensure that passengers using Ashford International have a reasonable number of international services to choose from, including at least one direct service to Brussels a day.

“The drastic reduction in services will cause unnecessary inconvenience by forcing the many passengers who currently use Eurostar services from Ashford to use Ebbsfleet which has poor rail connections from these areas. Ashford offers ideal connection opportunities for passengers from many parts of Kent and Sussex and with the start of the high speed domestic service in 2009 there will be even better connections for passengers.”

Notes to editors

1. Passenger Focus is the official, independent consumer organisation representing the interests of rail users nationally. Created by the Railways Act 2005, Passenger Focus is the operating name of the Rail Passengers Council. It is a body corporate, executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Transport. Passenger Focus came into effect from Wednesday 25 January 2006. We want to make a difference for rail passengers. We’ll do this by:
• providing authoritative advice for the industry based on sound research
• securing improvements to rail services – both big and small-scale improvements
• helping passengers with advice and information
• campaigning for change and acting on passenger complaints

2. Media enquiries regarding this release should be addressed to:
Jane Cobell
Press officer
0870 336 6021
jane.cobell@passengerfocus.org.uk