Ebbsfleet International railway station

Origin of the name

The name Ebbsfleet is an artificial creation of seventeenth-century antiquaries, partly inspired by the name of Ebbsfleet in Thanet, 75 km (47 mi) to the east.

Opening

The station opened to the public on 19 November 2007 for people travelling on South Eastern High Speed Trains, later than St Pancras International because the security equipment was transferred from Waterloo International. The station was formally opened to Eurostar and dedicated in a ceremony by Dame Kelly Holmes on 29 January 2008.

Naming

"Ebbsfleet International Station" was the name originally proposed for the station, but "Dartford International Station" was later proposed at the urging of Eurostar, 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 (3.2 km) away (even though Ebbsfleet International is in the borough of Dartford 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 mi (10 km) away, was also of concern.

Javelin Shuttle

The Olympic Javelin or Javelin was a high-speed train shuttle service operated by Southeastern over High Speed 1 during the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The service ran for the duration of both games, between St Pancras International station and this station, via Stratford International station, which is close to the Olympic Park. 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.

Layout

On High Speed 1 there are avoiding lines in each direction and four platforms, two serving international Eurostar services and two the Southeastern Highspeed services. Southeastern services travelling between London and the North 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.

Parking

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 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.

Buses and coaches

The station is served by National Express coach services running between London and Dover, and by Fastrack buses operated by Arriva, which connect it to Dartford, Bluewater, Greenhithe, Swanscombe and Gravesend. Despite being in close proximity to the station, Northfleet has no bus connection to the station.

Taxis

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 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 a separate station between Northfleet and Ebbsfleet International but under the current plan, Abbey Wood further west will be the eastern terminus. However, a Crossrail extension from Abbey Wood to Gravesend (Hoo Junction) remains safeguarded.

Pedestrian access

Northfleet railway station is approximately 400 metres to the north-east, although the walking distance between the two stations is significantly longer, approximately 2,000 metres if roadside footpaths are followed. There is a shorter walking route (approximately 1,000 metres) 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, although it is a complex planning issue to resolve as whilst Northfleet is in Gravesham, Ebbsfleet station is just over the border in the Borough of Dartford, and there are many other stakeholders involved.

Services

As of the Summer 2014 timetable, there are up to five Eurostar services to Paris on Mondays to Fridays, up to four on Saturdays and three on Sundays. Most of these services run non-stop from Ebbsfleet to Paris, though some also stop at Ashford en route. There are four trains to Brussels on Mondays to Fridays, three on Saturdays and two on Sundays. All Brussels services call at Lille and some also call at Calais. There is also a return service on most days to Marne-la-Vallée for the Disneyland Paris resort, which also calls at Ashford and Lille (in the France-bound direction only). It is not permitted to use Eurostar services for domestic journeys in the UK. Since the station's opening, Eurostar has withheld passenger usage statistics for international services, citing commercial confidentiality.

On 29 June 2009 Southeastern started a weekday preview service between St Pancras International and Ebbsfleet International, extending to Ashford International during peak hours. On 7 September the service was enhanced by a few services to Ramsgate via Canterbury West or Dover. A regular service began on 13 December 2009.

Ebbsfleet International is the only station in the United Kingdom served exclusively by high-speed services.

The typical off-peak service was:

Additional trains, in peak hours only, serve Maidstone West, Broadstairs via the Medway towns, and Sandwich.

Since 2 January 2015 the off peak service is: