Eurostar celebrates first anniversary ‘double doorway’ in Kent - 19 November 2008
This article (Eurostar press release?) was published on easier.com, a travel website, on Eurostar celebrating their first anniversary at Ebbsfleet. We have taken the liberty to interject our questions or comments in bold.
Eurostar, the high-speed passenger train operator that links the UK with France and Belgium, today celebrates the first anniversary of operating twin stations in Kent, offering a double doorway from south east England to the Continent.
High-speed services from Ebbsfleet International in north Kent, close to Bluewater shopping centre, began at 05.38 on 19 November 2007, with regular 186mph trains to Brussels and Paris.
From being a place few had heard of, Ebbsfleet International station is now becoming well established across the south east, a catchment of 10 million potential Eurostar travellers, thanks to a series of innovative measures to put the new station on the map.
Q. Surely that figure must include London which has St Pancras station, or is Eurostar allowed to count the same potential customers twice?
These have included:
- A Eurostar shop at Bluewater that stayed open nearly three times longer than first planned and sold more than twice as many tickets as originally expected
Q. Naturally, but if you sell two tickets for the price of one, you have twice as many passengers?
Of course Eurostar representatives stated at the EU on 4th July 2007 that 60% of Ashford’s passengers would prefer to use Ebbsfleet. I find it difficult to believe that Ebbsfleet has seen 300,000 former Ashford passengers (not forgetting all of those drawn in by the advertising and two for the price of one offers). In which case, Eurostar has thrown away tens of thousands of customers.
- Sponsorship of the Blue Square Premier League team Ebbsfleet United FC, which then gained national media attention through its takeover by internet venture myfootballclub; and victory in the FA Trophy Final at Wembley in May 2008
- The launch – with London & Continental Railways and Land Securities – of an international competition to build the Ebbsfleet Landmark, as a beacon to further herald the regeneration of the Ebbsfleet Valley in north Kent
- A drive-in cinema over the August Bank Holiday to attract local residents, showing the classic films ‘Moulin Rouge’ and ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ which both feature Eurostar’s destination of Paris
- A regional TV advertising campaign to highlight the journey time proximity of Ebbsfleet International to the centres of Brussels and Paris
Around 90% of all Ebbsfleet International travellers now originate from the South East region including Essex, Greater London, Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex, with some 38% from Kent itself.
The proportion of travellers from Essex has steadily increased to 15% as a result of marketing, advertising and PR activity targeting the county. It appears that perceptions of the Thames as a barrier to Kent are being broken down by the closeness and convenience of high-speed rail access to the Continent via Ebbsfleet International.
At Ashford International the number of travellers catching the daily service to Disneyland Resort Paris has increased by just over 8% since the opening of High Speed 1.
Granted, but both businesses and international commuters who allocated to this part of Kent from here in the UK, or more importantly from Europe or further afield where not thinking of visiting Disneyland to conduct their meetings!
Eurostar’s Director of Communications, Simon Montague, said: “We’ve faced a tough challenge to put Ebbsfleet International on the map, and we’re really pleased that the name is now becoming well-known.
Except of course that Ashford’s passenger numbers were a result of people wanting to use the service from Ashford. Ashford International never had the shop, the football team, the £2million piece of artwork, the drive-in cinema etc etc.and the multi-million pound advertising on TV.
“In many ways it is the same challenge that faced Eurostar when Ashford International first opened in 1996. We are committed to both our Kent stations, and the significant growth on the London - Brussels route has also enabled us to plan the reintroduction of a direct Ashford - Brussels service next year.”
These were planned for December 2008. People have already purchased tickets. BUT the return connection via Lille has disappeared. The 21.01 from Brussels has been stopping at Ashford but you are not allowed to book a ticket to Ashford. Why not? Why could this train not continue to stop here until the new service starts? What a good PR exercise that would be, to allow passengers to travel to the destination they want to go to.
Ebbsfleet International was officially opened on 29 January 2008 by Dame Kelly Holmes MBE and the advertising and marketing campaign to put the station on the map began soon after. Marketing activity focussing on further raising awareness of both Kent stations across the south east will continue in 2009.
Eurostar now employs over 450 people in Kent, either directly or indirectly at the two stations, the UK Contact Centre based in Ashford, and its station retailers and security contractor.
Q. And will Ashford continue to be an afterthought in small print? Three different sources have said that the call centre was told last year not to sell Ashford tickets around the Christmas period. People will continue to think that there has been a dirty tricks campaign to downgrade Ashford unless this can be refuted.
The 15,000 signature petition was denigrated. The passenger survey of passengers was disregarded. You can’t force all of the people to do something they don’t want to do especially if they have had better service elsewhere. It’s obvious that many people have voted with their feet and either doesn’t travel, drive or fly.
When most of Ashford’s trains were taken last year, and effectively given to Ebbsfleet, we were told that it was a “COMMERCIAL DECISION”. My contention is that it was a disastrous decision.
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