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Louise Thomas
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A proposal to create a new Eurostar stop in the UK has been revived by a senior Labour MP looking to bring international trains to East London.
The plans for Eurostar trains to stop at Stratford International were first put forward by MP for East Ham, Sir Stephen Timms, in the 1980s when he was chair of Newham London Borough Council’s planning committee.
Under the revived proposal, Eurostar trains would depart St Pancras as usual before stopping at Stratford International en route to Kent and continental Europe.
The same route reversed would be taken for Eurostar services travelling inbound for the UK.
Sir Stephen told The Standard that the influx of international trains would be a “very significant boost to employment and prosperity in East London”.
The new East London stop would take rail passengers just seven minutes from St Pancras, a station under pressure from high passenger numbers.
Eurostar is currently spending €10 million euros (£8.5 million) overhauling border facilities at St Pancras to accommodate the EU’s entry-exit system (EES), which is expected to come into force on 10 November.
For the proposal to happen, an investment in new immigration posts and border facilities would also have to be set up at the Stratford station.
Originally, the Eurostar’s Stratford stop was planned to connect with trains headed to and from northern England – but the links and infrastructure does not exist.
Simon Calder, travel correspondent of The Independent, said: “There is no chance that Eurostar would ever contemplate stopping its trains at Stratford International, seven minutes after leaving London St Pancras International.
“The company is making a mint with its sharply downsized network, currently ferrying travellers between London, Lille, Brussels and Paris.
“It already has two mothballed stations in Kent, at Ebbsfleet and Ashford, closed down by a combination of Brexit and Covid. I see no appetite to reopen them any time soon.
“What is desperately needed on train services through the Channel Tunnel is competition. I can’t see an opportunity for a low-cost operator to run trains from Stratford, I’m afraid, though I would love to be proved wrong.”
Eurostar, the UK’s only international rail operator, said the Stratford stop was not part of its plans for 2025.
For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast
