On the Trail of the White Elephant

On the Trail of the White Elephant

I went to Ebbsfleet today to meet a friend for lunch. Needless to say they had a car, because Ebbsfleet fully lives up to its French sobriquet of 'Beetroot Station'. It is out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by fields and old quarries.

There is a modern road network in place but most of the local roads(including the A2 and M25) were gridlocked with people trying to get toBluewater shopping centre. Huge out-of-town shopping centres, just like out-of-town railway stations, encourage car use which doesn't strike me as being very responsible.

I saw several Javelins stop at Ebbsfleet and no more than half a dozenpeople get on or off each one. The two trains I travelled on betweenAshford and Ebbsfleet were no more than a third full
Of the two car parks adjacent to the station, one was moderately full, theother completely empty. It wasn't clear whether the cars parked wereEurostar passengers or commuters.

The man at the Eurostar booth said that it was very quiet there. A few morepassengers were using the station now the Javelins are operating he said.For Eurostar it seems very quiet, even though the place has been open 2years. There was a Paris and Brussels departure on the screen but not manypeople queueing up to travel. He said that there have been times in the
holidays it has been quite busy, but not generally. In contrast, there always seems to be a healthy number of people on the platform at Ashford waiting to board the few remaining Eurostars calling there when I have been passing through.
All in allwhat I saw todayseems to chime with BRAG's perception that Ebbsleet is currently an expensive white elephant. Maybe in 10-15 years time it may be thecentrepiece of an exciting newre-generation projecton the scale of CanaryWharf, but currently is not reallymuch use to anybody except high income commuters prepared to pay premiumfares and high parking charges - something of a rarity in these times of austerity.
For those who haven't been on it yet, the Javelin is superb, and highlyrecommended: So far, reports back from travellers and railway staff indicate thatBexhill and Hastings passengerscan use regular London tickets (other than the Southern-specific 'Super-OffPeak' or 'Pricebuster') without having to pay a supplement. Watch this space!

Richard Madge, BRAG Publicity Officer 30th December 2009