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Bring Back Euro Trains

Campaign for the return of international trains to Kent stations

BBET Campaign

This page is for news directly concerning the Bring Back Euro Trains (BBET) campaign.

Our passenger demand mandate

Published: 2 June, 2026

Cross-Channel rail is expanding. With new operators like Trenitalia, Virgin and Eurostar preparing to add capacity for 11 million extra passengers by 2035, the future of the network is being drawn up right now. We need to prove that Ashford… Read More >

Senator questions French Minister for Transport about suspension of intermediate train stops

Published: 21 May, 2026 | Tags: ,

The issue of the suspended intermediate Eurostar stops has now reached the French Senate. On 30 April 2026, French Senator Sophie Briante Guillemont formally questioned the French Minister of Transport on the five-year suspension of services at Ashford International, Ebbsfleet… Read More >

An invitation to French nationals

Published: 25 April, 2026

Thursday, 30th April 2026, at 5:30 pmInternational House, Ashford Kent is home to a sizeable French community, many of whom arrived and settled with the start of international train services to France. French Senator Olivier Cadic was one of those… Read More >

Any further UK investment in depot space should come with conditions

Published: 13 March, 2026 | Tags: ,

Gwendoline Cazenave, Eurostar’s CEO, went on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning to bemoan the lack of investment in depot space at Temple Mills. Listen to a clip here (©BBC 2026): The background to this is Eurostar’s stated… Read More >

Kent stations: Ashford or Ebbsfleet?

Published: 20 January, 2026 | Tags: ,

In this campaign, we have tirelessly advocated for the re-opening of both Ashford and Ebbsfleet as international stations. Both will benefit different parts of the south east region, both are networked as railway hubs in different ways. And while there… Read More >

Looking ahead to 2026

Published: 2 January, 2026 | Tags: , ,

Heading into 2026, Ashford’s MP Sojan Joseph has said that returning international train services to Ashford is his top priority. Naturally, we we welcome the sentiment; we are optimistic that trains will return, only we don’t know when. The MP’s… Read More >

A week on from the ORR’s decision on Temple Mills, what have we learnt?

Published: 6 November, 2025 | Tags: , , , , ,

A week has elapsed since the ORR’s decision to allocate the space capacity in the Temple Mills to Virgin Trains Europe. Virgin won out over Eurostar and three other operators vying to launch a rival cross-Channel train service. What have… Read More >

Historic decision: Virgin to provide competition to Eurostar

Published: 30 October, 2025 | Tags: ,

Bring Back Euro Trains welcomes this historic day, as the ORR (Office of Rail and Road) gives the green light to open up the UK international rail market to genuine competition. We congratulate Virgin Trains, well known for their innovation… Read More >

Thematic analysis of petition comments

Published: 22 October, 2025 | Tags:

Bring Back Euro Trains is pleased to present our new publication, the “Comments Insights Report, A Thematic Analysis of the Public Arguments for Kent International Rail Services.” This crucial document is a comprehensive analysis of nearly 3,000 public comments submitted… Read More >

FS / Trenitalia woo Ashford

Published: 14 October, 2025 | Tags: ,

BBET welcomes a new pledge by Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS) / Trenitalia to reopen Ashford International station to international high-speed rail services. They made the announcement in the Sunday Times two days ago (Sunday 12th October). It has been… Read More >