Ebbsfleet International  | |||||
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| General information | |||||
| Location | Ebbsfleet Valley,Kent,Borough of Dartford England | ||||
| Grid reference | TQ613741 | ||||
| Owned by | London and Continental Railways | ||||
| Managed by | Network Rail | ||||
| Platforms | 6 (4 domestic, 2 international) | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | EBD | ||||
| IATA code | XQE | ||||
| Classification | DfT category B | ||||
| History | |||||
| Opened | 19 November 2007; 18 years ago (2007-11-19) | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  1.978 million | ||||
| Interchange |  58,888 | ||||
| 2020/21 | 0.417 million | ||||
| Interchange | 19,330 | ||||
| 2021/22 | 1.213 million | ||||
| Interchange | 44,469 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 1.559 million | ||||
| Interchange | 82,975 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 1.715 million | ||||
| Interchange | 79,598 | ||||
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Ebbsfleet International railway station is inEbbsfleet Valley,Kent, 10 miles (16 kilometres) east ofLondon, England, nearDartford and theBluewater Shopping Centre to the west andGravesend to the east. The station, part of theThames Gatewayurban regeneration project, is on theHigh Speed 1 (HS1) rail line, 300 metres (980 feet) south-west ofNorthfleet railway station, off theA2 trunk road, 5 mi (8.0 km) from its junction with theM25 motorway. It served as a primary park-and-rail service for the London 2012 Olympics.
Ebbsfleet International is owned by HS1 Ltd, which operates the High Speed 1 railway andSt Pancras railway station,Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International andAshford International.
The name Ebbsfleet dates from the seventeenth-century. The station is partly inspired by the name ofEbbsfleet in Thanet, 47 mi (75 km) to the east.[1]
As part of the development of theChannel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) in the early 1990s, four potential station sites along the route were considered, with two in east London (Stratford andRainham) and two in Kent (Nashenden on the outskirts ofRochester, andEbbsfleet located southwest ofGravesend).[2] By August 1994, Ebbsfleet had been chosen over Nashenden, given its less remote location. The station would serve both international and domestic trains, allowpark and ride from nearbyM2 andM25 motorways and stimulate development in theThames Gateway. The station was approved as part of theChannel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996.[2]
Similar in design toStratford International, the station was designed by architect Mark Fisher, working underAlastair Lansley – the chief architect on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project. Fisher described the station as "a big, generous light-filled bridge of steel and glass crossing the tracks and spanning the box".[3] Internal finishings of the station were designed byJestico + Whiles.[4]
Construction began on Phase 2 of the CTRL project in 2002.[2][5] Construction was completed by September 2006.[6]
The £180m station opened to Eurostar passengers on 19 November 2007, five days after the rest of HS1.[7] This was because the security and ticketing equipment had to be transferred fromWaterloo International and reinstalled at the station. The first daily service was the 05:38 service to Paris, arriving at its destination 132 minutes later.[7] Serving theThames Gateway, the station had an initial service of seven weekday trains to Paris and five to Brussels.[7] A 2,500-space car park was provided.[7]
A formal opening ceremony in the presence of DameKelly Holmes took place on 29 January 2008.[8]
Residents ofAshford complained that the service atAshford International was downgraded to compensate for the stop at Ebbsfleet and that it made more sense for them now to useEurotunnel Shuttle services.[7]
"Ebbsfleet International Station" was the name originally proposed for the station, but "Dartford International Station" was later proposed at the urging ofEurostar, who felt thatDartford was a name with greater national recognition. Opposition to Eurostar's ‘Dartford International’ proposal came fromGravesham Borough Council, whose administrative centre atGravesend is just two miles (3.2 km) away (even though Ebbsfleet International is in the borough of Dartford and therefore outside Gravesham council's authority);Southfleet Parish Council; andSwanscombe and Greenhithe Town Council, both in the Borough of Dartford.[9] The similarity of its name to that ofDartford railway station, 6 mi (9.7 km) away, was also of concern.
The Olympic Javelin[10] or Javelin[11][12] was ahigh-speed train shuttle service operated by Southeastern over High Speed 1 during the2012 Summer Olympics andParalympics. The service ran for the duration of both games, betweenSt Pancras International station and this station, viaStratford International station, which is close to theOlympic Park.[13] During the Summer Olympics a service of eight trains an hour ran between St Pancras and Ebbsfleet, calling at Stratford, replacing the usual East Kent highspeed service. Two of these were extended to Ashford and one to Faversham. Between 11pm and 1am the service between St Pancras and Ebbsfleet was increased to twelve per hour.[14]
In September 2020, Eurostar announced that due to the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic and subsequent collapse in ticket revenue (down by 90%), both Ebbsfleet and Ashford International stations would not be served by Eurostar services until at least 2022.[15]In September 2021, Eurostar confirmed that services would not resume until 2023, despite complaints by local politicians that this was "bad for Kent".[16] Eurostar stated that it would resume services when commercially sensible to do so, as it would initially "focus on destinations where demand is highest".[16] A further update in August 2022 confirmed that Eurostar might not resume serving the station (along withAshford) until at least 2025.[17] The Eurostar services have not been restored at Ebbsfleet or Ashford as of October 2025.
On High Speed 1 there are avoiding lines in each direction and four platforms, two serving international Eurostar services and two the Southeastern High-speed services. Southeastern services travelling between London and theNorth Kent Line use a junction to the north of the station and are served by another pair of platforms that curve away to the east.
Ticket barriers control access to all platforms.
A partially built and disused concrete overbridge can be seen to the south of the station. This is believed to have been put in place in preparation for the Ebbsfleet Garden City housing development project; however, it was never needed.[citation needed]
This station hasbilingual signage, both inFrench andEnglish. It is one of the relatively few stations in England to havebilingual signage, others beingWallsend (Latin),Southall (Punjabi),Hereford (Welsh),Whitechapel (Bengali),St Pancras andAshford International (French).
The Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) Act allows a total of 9,000 car parking spaces to be constructed,[18] with an initial 6,000 built. The car parks are in a number of areas around the station - north of the North Kent Line, between the North Kent Line and High Speed 1, south of the High Speed 1 and south west of the station building.
The station is served byFastrack buses operated byGo Ahead London, which connect it toDartford,Bluewater,Greenhithe,Swanscombe andGravesend. It is also served byArriva routes 483 and 481 (school days only).Go also serves Ebbsfleet with route GC1 and theGo2 demand-responsive transport service. Despite being in close proximity to the station, Northfleet has no bus connection to the station.[19]
There is a taxi rank directly outside the station entrance/exit. Car rental services for both leisure and business are located in the concourse. The interchange facilities lie at either end of the mainstation box - taxis, buses and set down at the northern end (to also serve the NKL platforms) and coaches to the south of the station box.It was formerly planned thatCrossrail would terminate at a separate station betweenNorthfleet andEbbsfleet International but under the current plan,Abbey Wood further west will be the eastern terminus. However, aCrossrail extension fromAbbey Wood toGravesend (Hoo Junction) remains safeguarded.
Northfleet railway station is approximately 400 metres (1,300 ft) to the north-east, although the walking distance between the two stations is significantly longer, approximately 2 km (1.2 mi) if roadside footpaths are followed. There is a shorter walking route (approximately 1,000 metres (3,300 ft)) through the car park to the north of Ebbsfleet station, but there are no footpaths provided and this way is obstructed by the car park access barriers. There are no specific pedestrian or cycle route signs for Ebbsfleet station on any of the possible routes between the stations. Gravesham Council acknowledges that the existing provision is inadequate,[20] although it is a complex planning issue to resolve as whilst Northfleet is in Gravesham, Ebbsfleet station is just over the border in theBorough of Dartford, and there are many other stakeholders involved.
On 29 June 2009, Southeastern started a weekday preview service betweenSt Pancras International andEbbsfleet International, extending toAshford International during peak hours.[21] On 7 September the service was enhanced by a few services toRamsgate viaCanterbury West orDover.[22] A regular service began on 13 December 2009.[23]
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour was:[23]
Additional trains, in peak hours only, serveMaidstone West,Broadstairs via the Medway towns, andSandwich.
All domestic services at Ebbsfleet International are operated bySoutheastern usingClass 395EMUs.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[24]
Additional services, including two daily return services between London St Pancras International andMaidstone West call at the station during the peak hours.
Since the opening of Ebbsfleet station in 2007, Eurostar has transferred a number of trips from Ashford to the newer station. Ashford International has a wider variety of destinations such as Calais, Lille, Brussels, Disneyland Paris, the French Alps, Paris, Lyon, Avignon and Marseille, but with fewer services to them. In contrast, Ebbsfleet International has services to only the core destinations (Paris, Brussels and Lille) and the Disneyland Paris service, but with much more frequent services.[citation needed]
Eurostar services are not used for non-international journeys, as the infrastructure and train design is not suitable for national travel, and there is no feasible reason to do so. Since the station's opening, Eurostar has withheld passenger usage statistics for international services, citing commercial confidentiality.[citation needed]
As of May 2019, the typicalEurostar services was:
Eurostar services have been suspended since 31 March 2020.[25] As of August 2022, Eurostar intends to resume service in 2025 at the earliest.[26]
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southeastern | ||||
 Eurostar | ||||
| London St Pancras International | Eurostar (Suspended) | Ashford International | ||
| Calais-Frethun orLille Europe | ||||
| Paris Nord | ||||
Chief architect for RLE, is Alastair Lansley ... describes Stratford station - designed by Mark Fisher, who did the British Pavilion for the 1992 Seville Expo - as "a big, generous light-filled bridge of steel and glass crossing the tracks and spanning the box."
51°26′34.94″N0°19′15.18″E / 51.4430389°N 0.3208833°E /51.4430389; 0.3208833
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1 International services are currently suspended2 Only a single service per week in each direction on the Enterprise calls there. | ||
