Andy Burnham told MPs on 12 October he would ask the Transport Secretary to look into Ashford's international trains. What that does and does not commit to.

The Prime Minister has said he will ask the Transport Secretary to look into bringing international trains back to Ashford International.

Andy Burnham made the commitment in the Commons on Monday 12 October. He was answering a question during his statement to MPs on international affairs. His full answer was two sentences:

My hon. Friend makes an excellent case. She and I will ask the Transport Secretary to look into it and get back to her.

That is the whole of it, according to the official record (Hansard, House of Commons, 12 October 2026). There is no date, no money and no named operator in it. It is a promise to ask, and a promise of a reply.

Who asked, and what she claimed

The question came from Helena Dollimore, the Labour and Co-operative MP for Hastings and Rye. She told the House:

Thousands of the people I represent have called for international trains to come back to Ashford International. It would boost our economy by £2.7 billion and bring half a million more visitors to Sussex and Kent every year, and we have an international terminal sitting there ready to be used.

She also asked the Prime Minister to support the return “like the Transport Secretary”.

The £2.7 billion is her figure, not the government’s. Her campaign page attributes it to “a new report” on the boost to the South East economy (Helena Dollimore, Ashford campaign page). When she raised the same subject in June, she put it at £2.5 billion.

What ministers have said before

Ministers have been asked about Ashford in Parliament at least twice since June. The answers have grown warmer, but none has committed the government to anything specific.

  • 25 June, Commons. Ms Dollimore asked for Ashford to be on the agenda at the EU-UK summit. Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister, replied: “What she has said today has been heard very clearly” (Hansard, 25 June 2026).
  • 16 September, House of Lords. During the committee stage of the Railways Bill, Lord Hendy, answering for the government, said the Bill “does not change anything in respect of international rail”. He said that because Eurostar was sold in 2015, the government has “to influence it and its competitors in any way we can”, adding: “I am engaged in that persuasion because the economic benefits of stopping in those places are important” (Hansard, House of Lords, 16 September 2026).
  • 12 October, Commons. The Prime Minister’s answer above.

In the same Lords debate, Lord Berkeley declared an interest in Gemini, one of the would-be cross-Channel operators. He said its “ambition is to stop trains regularly at Ebbsfleet and Ashford”. He also set out why it is hard. It is “for the operator to decide its timetable of services and which stations it wishes to stop at”, and it has to weigh the costs of the infrastructure, the police “and of everybody else who has to be there”.

Timeline of the Ashford international trains question in 2026. 25 June: Cabinet Office minister says the case has been heard clearly. 13 August: the rail regulator approves Virgin's cross-Channel deal, calling only at St Pancras, to 2040. 27 August: Kent County Council asks residents to fill in the demand survey. 16 September: Lord Hendy tells the Lords the government is persuading operators. 12 October: the Prime Minister says he will ask the Transport Secretary to look into it.
Five steps in 2026, none of which yet puts a train back at Ashford. Sources: Hansard, ORR, Kent County Council. Graphic by The Ashford Times
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Why the government cannot simply order it

The government does not run cross-Channel trains and no longer owns any of Eurostar. Any stop at Ashford has to be chosen by an operator and approved through track access contracts.

The one operator with a deal so far is Virgin. The rail regulator approved its agreement with HS1 on 13 August. The decision letter says its trains “will only call at London St Pancras International on the HS1 network”, from 2030 to the end of 2040 (ORR decision letter, 14 August 2026). The regulator said it “cannot insist” that Virgin serves Kent, but that any operator can apply for rights to stop at Ashford “at any time”.

We set out in September exactly what an Ashford stop would need on paper. In short, it needs station agreements, firm rights for the extra calls and a Network Rail contract. The track into the station is already in Virgin’s contract; the stops are not. That piece is here: Virgin’s approved deal has no Ashford stop.

What it means for you

Nothing changes at the station yet. The domestic high speed trains to St Pancras run as normal, and the times are on our Ashford trains to London page.

What to watch for next:

  • The Transport Secretary’s reply to Ms Dollimore. The Prime Minister promised one. If it is published as a letter or a written answer, it will be the first time this government has set out in writing what it will do.
  • The Railways Bill. Lord Hendy offered to discuss international rail with Lord Boateng before the Bill’s report stage in the Lords.
  • The demand survey. Kent County Council has asked residents to fill in the Bring Back Euro Trains survey, which almost 14,000 people had registered for by late August (Kent County Council, 27 August 2026). The council’s argument is that operators need evidence of demand before they commit, so this is the one thing a resident can do that feeds directly into the case.

No international train has stopped in Kent since Eurostar withdrew from Ashford and Ebbsfleet in 2020.

Sources