Ebbsfleet International railway station
Encyclopedia
Ebbsfleet International railway station is a railway station in Ebbsfleet Valley
, in the Borough of Dartford
, Kent
, 10 miles outside the eastern boundary of Greater London
, England
. It is near Dartford and the Bluewater shopping centre to the west and Gravesend
to the east. Ebbsfleet International station is a part of the Thames Gateway
urban regeneration, a project of national priority. It is sited on the High Speed 1 rail line, just 400 yards west of Northfleet railway station
. The station lies off the A2
trunk road, about 5 miles from its junction with the M25 motorway
.
on 29 January 2008.
domestic services use the junction to the north of the station. Northfleet Station
is 400 yards to the east, although the walking distance between the two is longer, as there is no direct connection.
coach services running between London
and Dover
, and by Fastrack
buses operated by Arriva
, which connect it to Dartford
, Bluewater, Greenhithe
, Swanscombe
and Gravesend
.
Taxis are located at 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 main station 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 that Crossrail
would terminate at the station, but under the current plan, Abbey Wood
further west will be the eastern terminus.
, who felt that Dartford
was a name with greater national recognition. Opposition to Eurostar’s ‘Dartford International’ proposal came from Gravesham Borough Council
, whose administrative centre at Gravesend
is just two miles away (even though Ebbsfleet International is in the Dartford constituency and therefore outside of Gravesham council's authority); Southfleet
Parish Council; and Swanscombe
and Greenhithe
Town Council, both in the Borough of Dartford
. The similarity of its name to that of Dartford railway station
, 6 miles away, was also of concern.
, and three to Brussels, and the same number arriving from the continent. It is not permitted to use Eurostar services for domestic journeys in the UK, though journeys between Calais and Lille/Paris are possible.
On 29 June 2009 Southeastern started a weekday preview service between and Ebbsfleet International, extending to during peak hours. On 7 September the service was enhanced with a few services to Ramsgate
via or Dover
. A regular service commenced on 13 December 2009.
The typical off-peak service is:
Ebbsfleet Valley
Ebbsfleet Valley is a new town and redevelopment area in Kent, South East England; and part of the Thames Gateway. It is located south west of Gravesend.It is named after the valley of the Ebbsfleet River, which it straddles...
, in the Borough of Dartford
Dartford (borough)
Dartford is the name given to a local government district and borough in north west Kent, England, which takes its name from its administrative capital. It borders Thurrock, to the north across the River Thames; to the west lies the London Borough of Bexley; to the south Sevenoaks district; and the...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, 10 miles outside the eastern boundary of Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is near Dartford and the Bluewater shopping centre to the west and Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
to the east. Ebbsfleet International station is a part of the Thames Gateway
Thames Gateway
The Thames Gateway is an area of land stretching east from inner east London on both sides of the River Thames and the Thames Estuary. The area, which includes much brownfield land, has been designated a national priority for urban regeneration, taking advantage of the development opportunities...
urban regeneration, a project of national priority. It is sited on the High Speed 1 rail line, just 400 yards west of Northfleet railway station
Northfleet railway station
Northfleet railway station serves the town of Northfleet in North Kent. Train services are operated by Southeastern.The ticket office, on the 'down' side, is situated in the substantial station building...
. The station lies off the A2
A2 road (Great Britain)
The A2 is a major road in southern England, connecting London with the English Channel port of Dover in Kent. This route has always been of importance as a connection between the British capital of London and sea trade routes to Continental Europe...
trunk road, about 5 miles from its junction with the M25 motorway
M25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
.
Opening
The station opened to the public on 19 November 2007, later than St. Pancras International because the security equipment was transferred from Waterloo. The station was formally opened and dedicated in a ceremony by Dame Kelly HolmesKelly Holmes
Dame Kelly Holmes, DBE, MBE is a retired British middle distance athlete. She specialised in the 800 metres and 1500 metres events and won a gold medal for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens...
on 29 January 2008.
Layout
Two platforms serve international Eurostar services and four platforms serve Southeastern Highspeed services within Kent. There are also avoiding lines in each direction. North Kent LineNorth Kent Line
The North Kent Line is a railway line which connects central and south east London with Dartford and Medway.-Construction:The North Kent Line was the means by which the South Eastern Railway were able to connect its system to London at London Bridge...
domestic services use the junction to the north of the station. Northfleet Station
Northfleet railway station
Northfleet railway station serves the town of Northfleet in North Kent. Train services are operated by Southeastern.The ticket office, on the 'down' side, is situated in the substantial station building...
is 400 yards to the east, although the walking distance between the two is longer, as there is no direct connection.
Facilities
The Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) Act allows a total of 9,000 car parking spaces to be constructed, with an initial 6,000 built. The car parks are in a number of geographical 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 by National ExpressNational Express
National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...
coach services running between London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
, and by Fastrack
Fastrack
Fastrack is a bus rapid transit scheme operating in the Thames Gateway area of Kent. It currently consists of two routes operated by Arriva Southern Counties on behalf of Kent County Council...
buses operated by Arriva
Arriva
Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...
, which connect it to Dartford
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....
, Bluewater, Greenhithe
Greenhithe
Greenhithe is a town in Dartford District of Kent, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe.Greenhithe, as it is spelled today, is located where it was possible to build wharves for transshipping corn, wood and other commodities; its largest cargoes were of chalk and...
, Swanscombe
Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a small town, part of the Borough of Dartford on the north Kent coast in England. It is part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe.-Prehistory:...
and Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
.
Taxis are located at 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 main station 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 that Crossrail
Crossrail
Crossrail is a project to build a major new railway link under central London. The name refers to the first of two routes which are the responsibility of Crossrail Ltd. It is based on an entirely new east-west tunnel with a central section from to Liverpool Street station...
would terminate at the station, but under the current plan, Abbey Wood
Abbey Wood railway station
Abbey Wood railway station serves the suburb of Abbey Wood in South East London. It is served by Southeastern, and is between and stations on the North Kent Line....
further west will be the eastern terminus.
Naming
"Ebbsfleet International Station" was the name originally proposed for the station, but "Dartford International Station" was later proposed at the urging of EurostarEurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
, who felt that Dartford
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....
was a name with greater national recognition. Opposition to Eurostar’s ‘Dartford International’ proposal came from Gravesham Borough Council
Gravesham
Gravesham is a local government district and borough in North West Kent, England. It has borders with the River Thames to the north; the City of Rochester and Medway to the east; the borough of Tonbridge and Malling ; and the boroughs of Sevenoaks and Dartford to the west.Its council is based at...
, whose administrative centre at Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
is just two miles away (even though Ebbsfleet International is in the Dartford constituency and therefore outside of Gravesham council's authority); Southfleet
Southfleet
Southfleet is a small compact village five miles SW of Gravesend in Kent; it is a civil parish within the borough of Dartford, and includes within its boundaries the hamlet of Betsham, and the even smaller settlement of Northfleet Green. The main village is grouped around a crossroads and many of...
Parish Council; and Swanscombe
Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a small town, part of the Borough of Dartford on the north Kent coast in England. It is part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe.-Prehistory:...
and Greenhithe
Greenhithe
Greenhithe is a town in Dartford District of Kent, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe.Greenhithe, as it is spelled today, is located where it was possible to build wharves for transshipping corn, wood and other commodities; its largest cargoes were of chalk and...
Town Council, both in the Borough of Dartford
Dartford (borough)
Dartford is the name given to a local government district and borough in north west Kent, England, which takes its name from its administrative capital. It borders Thurrock, to the north across the River Thames; to the west lies the London Borough of Bexley; to the south Sevenoaks district; and the...
. The similarity of its name to that of Dartford railway station
Dartford railway station
Dartford railway station serves the town of Dartford in Kent, England. All train services from the station are operated by Southeastern, which also manages the station...
, 6 miles away, was also of concern.
Services
Daily there are six (seven on Fridays) Eurostar services to ParisGare du Nord
Paris Nord is one of the six large terminus railway stations of the SNCF mainline network for Paris, France. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines, including Paris Métro and RER...
, and three to Brussels, and the same number arriving from the continent. It is not permitted to use Eurostar services for domestic journeys in the UK, though journeys between Calais and Lille/Paris are possible.
On 29 June 2009 Southeastern started a weekday preview service between and Ebbsfleet International, extending to during peak hours. On 7 September the service was enhanced with a few services to Ramsgate
Ramsgate railway station
Ramsgate railway station serves the town of Ramsgate in Thanet in Kent, England, and is located about 10 minutes away on foot from the town centre. The station lies on the Chatham Main Line 127 km east of London Victoria, the Kent Coast Line, and the Ashford to Ramsgate line...
via or Dover
Dover Priory railway station
Dover Priory railway station is the main station in Dover in Kent, with the other station being Kearsney situated on the outskirts of Dover. . All train services are provided by Southeastern...
. A regular service commenced on 13 December 2009.
The typical off-peak service is:
- 4 trains per hour to St Pancras International, taking 17 minutes;
- 2 trains per hour to FavershamFaversham railway stationFaversham railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in north Kent, and serves the town of Faversham, 52 miles from London Victoria and 49 miles from London St. Pancras International. Train services are provided by Southeastern. Typical journey times for fastest services to Victoria is 70...
; - 1 train per hour to MargateMargate railway stationMargate railway station serves the town of Margate in Thanet in Kent, England. Train services are provided by Southeastern.Trains from the station generally run to London Victoria via , or to via Ramsgate, Canterbury West and Ashford International...
via Ashford International and Canterbury WestCanterbury West railway stationCanterbury West railway station is one of two stations in Canterbury in Kent. It is north-northwest of the city centre. It is served by Southeastern....
; - 1 train per hour to Dover PrioryDover Priory railway stationDover Priory railway station is the main station in Dover in Kent, with the other station being Kearsney situated on the outskirts of Dover. . All train services are provided by Southeastern...
via Ashford International, Folkestone West and Folkestone Central.
External links
- Always touch out project details
- BBC picture gallery
- Kent Rail page on the station and related works on CTRL phase 2
- Ebbsfleet Gateway