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Ebbsfleet to Ashford from Eurostar

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TheJRB

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Hi,


I've just booked a few nights in Germany by Eurostar and ICE with the DB London Spezial. The good news is that Eurostar 9110 calls at Ashford on the way out but 9141 on the Saturday does not and we'll need to alight at Ebbsfleet instead on the way back.

With my 16-25 railcard I understand it'll be £14.80 one way from Ebbsfleet to Ashford. I was wondering if there was anyway of reducing this in conjunction with international tickets. I've heard about the CIV tickets but I want to know if these can be used in this way.


Thanks
 
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island

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AFAIK the special CIV tickets you're thinking of are only available to and from London.
 

RJ

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I vaguely recall there being some sort of special arrangement for passengers needing to do this journey on Southeastern having come off Eurostar. Can't remember the specifics at the moment.

As for CIV tickets, some are available to Ashford. I'll have a look to see if there is anything useful a bit later on.
 

Romilly

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Indeed. For example, BRFares shows that there are "Euro" fares with a CIV tag each way between Ashford (Kent) and Tonbridge. But it doesn't show anything similar between Ashford (Kent) and Ebbsfleet.
 

RJ

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It seems that there certainly was a scheme where Eurostar passengers were entitled to free connecting journeys on the Southeastern network.

Eurostar ticket holders can make connecting journeys to either Kent station for free from anywhere on the Southeastern trains network. They will also be able to connect with Southeastern's high-speed domestic services, which are due to begin later this year.

Source

Whether this is still the case is worth investigating - perhaps give Eurostar a ring?
 

TheJRB

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I vaguely recall there being some sort of special arrangement for passengers needing to do this journey on Southeastern having come off Eurostar. Can't remember the specifics at the moment.

As for CIV tickets, some are available to Ashford. I'll have a look to see if there is anything useful a bit later on.

Indeed. For example, BRFares shows that there are "Euro" fares with a CIV tag each way between Ashford (Kent) and Tonbridge. But it doesn't show anything similar between Ashford (Kent) and Ebbsfleet.

It seems that there certainly was a scheme where Eurostar passengers were entitled to free connecting journeys on the Southeastern network.



Source

Whether this is still the case is worth investigating - perhaps give Eurostar a ring?

Thanks for your replies. I'll certainly contact Eurostar and Southeastern to see if it's still the case!
 

Tetchytyke

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Just ring Eurostar, they're very knowledgable and you'll get more sense out of them than SouthEastern!
 

TheJRB

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Okay then. Just had a twitter exchange with Southeastern and Eurostar:

TheJRB said:
@Eurostar @Se_Railway Hi, if alighting from Eurostar at Ebbsfleet but requiring Ashford, I saw there was a free travel deal. Still the case?

Eurostar said:
@TheJRB Hi Joshua, unfortunately you'd need to buy a separate ticket between Ebbsfleet and Ashford via Southeastern high speed.

Southeastern said:
@TheJRB @Eurostar Hi Joshua, to travel on our trains from Ebbsfleet Intl to Ashford Intl you will need to purchase a valid ticket. ^MS

TheJRB said:
@Se_Railway @Eurostar Thanks. It's just I saw point 3 on this page from 2009 about an arrangement: http://www.eurostar.com/us-en/about...ar-welcomes-restoration-full-capacity-through … but not anymore?

Eurostar said:
@TheJRB Before the Se. high speed trains started running in Dec '09, there used to be an agreement for passengers to travel from Kent...

Eurostar said:
@TheJRB ..stations into Ashford International using Southeastern, if they had a Eurostar ticket (no longer the case).

Southeastern said:
@TheJRB @Eurostar This arrangement is no longer in place. ^MS

TheJRB said:
@Eurostar @Se_Railway Ok thanks. Finally, are there any discounts for int'l ticket holders (like CIV) just the £14.80 single with railcard?

Southeastern said:
@TheJRB We do offer railcard discounts. Which Railcard do you have? ^MS

TheJRB said:
@Se_Railway I have a 16-25 but the £14.80 is with the railcard. I was just wondering if that was the best price for the single journey.

Eurostar said:
@TheJRB @Se_Railway You'd need to double check this with the Southeastern ticket desk in Ebbsfleet, as they'd be able to advise.

Southeastern said:
@TheJRB The cheapest available fare for this journey will be £14.80 with the railcard discount. ^MS

So no special deals for me then!
 

JamesRowden

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This is a situation in which an implementation of my Sandling-Calais shuttle service idea would be useful. Have customs checks at Sandling and Calais. Have all Eurostar services run non-stop through Kent, and have all Kent passengers catch a French rail service to/from Calais. New structures and platforms would obviously be required.
 

TheJRB

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This is a situation in which an implementation of my Sandling-Calais shuttle service idea would be useful. Have customs checks at Sandling and Calais. Have all Eurostar services run non-stop through Kent, and have all Kent passengers catch a French rail service to/from Calais. New structures and platforms would obviously be required.
I wouldn't want to give up the up to 6 trains a day from Ashford though. At least on my planned trip, I'll be able to board at Ashford on the 07:28 to Brussels. Just the return that's more tricky.

I would rather see the "shuttle" as an Ebbsfleet to Lille service running perhaps hourly or two-hourly calling at Ashford and Fréthun en-route. This would make trips to destinations in Nord-Pas de Calais a heck of a lot simpler than the long winded way of travelling by train-ferry-train.
 

JamesRowden

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I wouldn't want to give up the up to 6 trains a day from Ashford though. At least on my planned trip, I'll be able to board at Ashford on the 07:28 to Brussels. Just the return that's more tricky.

I would rather see the "shuttle" as an Ebbsfleet to Lille service running perhaps hourly or two-hourly calling at Ashford and Fréthun en-route. This would make trips to destinations in Nord-Pas de Calais a heck of a lot simpler than the long winded way of travelling by train-ferry-train.

I think that there would be at least a 4tph service between Ashford and Dover if my idea was implemented. I expect that the shuttle service could run every 15 minutes since Sandling station is directly next to the M20 and should attract people to park there like at an airport. You (at Ashford) may need to change at Sandling and Calais but you would get a far more frequent service than you presently get.
 
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