A massive 97 per cent of people want Eurostar services to keep stopping at Ashford International station, according to an online poll.
The vote was run Kent County Council and it is presenting the results to the Government on April 9.
Eurostar is planning to end the high-speed direct train service to Brussels from Ashford International, after the new Ebbsfleet International station opens.
In the poll run on KCC’s website asked which Eurostar services Kent residents would prefer to use.
The poll ran from October 16-December 15 and received 4,787 replies.
The question was: Would you prefer to travel to Brussels and Paris by Eurostar:
• from Ashford International?
• from Ebbsfleet International?
Some 97 per cent of respondents want Eurostar services to remain in Ashford. The majority of people who voted came from the Maidstone, Ashford, Canterbury and Dover.
The poll result will be presented to Whitehall officials, who will also be given a petition from Ashford resident Edith Robson who has collected more than 2,500 signatures from passengers demanding a rethink by Eurostar to reinstate stops at Ashford.
Under Eurostar's proposals Ashford International will lose all Brussels trains and its off-peak Paris services when the new £100 million Ebbsfleet station, between Dartford and Gravesend, begins its Eurostar services in October.
KCC argues that the cuts in service are at odds with the government's plans for Ashford as one of the UK’s ‘growth areas’.
The town and surrounding area has been earmarked for 30,000 extra homes.
POSTED: 30/03/2007 09:46:08
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