London's long-empty Stratford International station could finally welcome cross-Channel trains within four years, with thousands of passengers a day potentially boarding services to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The mothballed station, which has sat largely unused since opening in 2009, is at the centre of plans to expand international rail services in the capital.
Plans to Revive the Ghost Station
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin is already exploring running such services as it seeks to compete with Eurostar in the cross-Channel rail market. Revamping Stratford into a fully-functioning international station could cost as little as £20 million, as many facilities are already in place, including passport control booths, security cameras and even toilets installed long ago.
The station's entrance is a double door on a nondescript, blank wall, a stark contrast to its potential future as a gateway to major European cities. Inside, the grandiose concourse features vast windows offering views over Stratford, the Westfield shopping complex and trains passing below at nearly 90mph.
Proposals and Government Support
One in three trains to and from France may stop at Stratford's two international platforms under proposals pushed by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. The Government is in talks with French authorities about a Stratford halt, with signs in both English and French reflecting past ambitious plans.
Construction of the station was completed in 2006, and it opened in 2009, but only for two platforms serving Southeastern services to Kent. Unlike Grade I listed St Pancras International, Stratford is a modern facility that can be expanded or built on top of, with plans for a spiral staircase to a premier mezzanine for a first class lounge.
Funding and Timeline
The first international services could stop at Stratford from 2030 under plans drawn up by City Hall. The Mayor is seeking Government approval for a Business Rate Retention Zone to fund the station's transformation. Chancellor John Healey is expected to back the scheme, possibly as soon as the Budget on October 28, which would allow London to keep more business rates raised in the city for rail development.
East Ham MP Sir Stephen Timms has campaigned for decades for international rail services to stop at both Stratford and another London terminus, previously Waterloo. Some 40 years after Sir Stephen first raised the possibility of a Stratford halt, when he was chairman of Newham planning committee in the late 1980s, international trains may finally be stopping in east London.
