Railway station near Essex could get Eurostar trains into European destinations

Matt Lee
·2-min read
File photo dated 21/01/21 of a Eurostar e320 high-speed train heading towards France through Ashford in Kent. A true price for carbon would remove a big reason for travellers to fly from London to Amsterdam - or other routes with good alternatives, the boss of Eurostar has said. Issue date: Monday November 1, 2021. PA Photo. Jacques Damas said that "there is no point to fly" between the two cities, but that airlines were able to undercut rail because they faced lower costs and did not have to pay for the cost of the carbon they emit. See PA story CITY Eurostar . Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
-Credit: (Image: PA)


A railway station on the Essex border could one day welcome Eurostar trains in a boost for connections between Essex and several popular European destinations. The Eurostar currently operates from St Pancras in London but an MP has revived old proposals for trains to stop at Stratford International.

Sir Stephen Timms, the MP for East Ham, has long been a campaigner for Eurostar services to operate from the London-Essex border station. He first raised the idea whilst a councillor in the 1980s.

According to the Standard, the MP believes there is a growing case for Eurostar services to call at Stratford International. He told the outlet it would be "another very significant boost" for local employment in the area.

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Eurostar trains currently only operate from St Pancras in London before heading through Kent and into Europe. They used to call at Ashford or Ebbsleet but services have been suspended since the start of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown in March 2020.

The Standard says Eurostar has no plans to serve Stratford International, so it might be some time before Sir Timms' hopes can become reality. Eurostar trains connects passengers from London with destinations across Europe including Dortmund in Germany, the Dutch capital Amsterdam, Paris in France and Brussels in Belgium.

It was not so long ago that there were ambitious plans to connect a number of British cities with France and Belgium. CambridgeshireLive says during the construction of the undersea tunnel in the 1980s there were suggestions that the Regional Eurostar could link a number of cities with the likes of Paris and Brussels.

One such city with connections was to be Peterborough. However, despite the tunnel being completed, the scheme never moved forward and London remains the only city with a direct service.

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