![]() It’s not surprising given the patronage figures. Few people took the British rail industry seriously as a travel mode of choice. ![]() Fairly or unfairly, it wasn’t a very good one. Although sectorisation of British Rail in 1986 had helped InterCity generate a slightly better image of long distance British train travel, the reputation of British Rail still loomed large over the industry. The whole thing was a bit of a leap in the dark, not so much for Belgium and France, but much more so for Britain. Although the trains would eventually emerge as stretched variants of the TGVs which had been operating successfully in France for many years, the service would be operated under a new brand identity, acceptable to all three countries. ![]() While construction continued on the tunnel itself, attention turned to the international train service which would operate between London, Paris and Brussels. It would clearly be a massive undertaking, and yet it would somehow still manage to be even more massive, difficult and costly than anyone responsible for it ever suspected. The agreement committing the British and French governments to construction of the Channel Tunnel linking Britain and France was reached in 1986. And in the late 1980s there was one such gigantic rail project. Any rail project worth its salt at the time would, in essence, have to deny it was anything to do with railways at all. So why build a railway station that looks and feels like a regional airport? Well, that’s the story of the end of the end of rail travel in Britain.Īshford International was planned in the late 1980s, at a time when, with absolute certainty, the consensus view recognised that the British rail industry faced a future of gentle but inexorable decline. © Copyright Oliver Dixon and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence, via this geograph page Not convinced? Okay then: Newcastle Airport terminal interior. Ashford International is, you see, a regional airport terminal. In fact, weary air travellers to and from some of England’s smaller cities will recognise their surroundings straight away. It’s inside that main building, however, that Ashford International seems rather less like a railway station. It’s a bit tricksy though, because while Southgate is genuinely circular, Ashford International’s main building is long, but with rounded ends, which give the appearance of a circular building when seen end-on. It’s such an extraordinary similarity that it must be to some extent a deliberate homage. Photo by Sunil060902 (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons ![]() As a reminder: Southgate Underground station. Long-time readers might be experiencing a frisson of recognition, because it is arrestingly like a larger take on Charles Holden’s classic 1930s Underground station at Southgate in north London. Photo © Paul Wright, used with permission, via this flickr page When walking from the nearby McArthur Glen Designer Outlet (now you know what I get up to on my research visits) the station’s main building looks like this: Ashford International station. On first approach to Ashford International things look rather promising. But then again, Ashford International tried its absolute hardest not to be a railway station at all. Photo by Daniel Wright via this flickr page It’s a far cry from the hustle and bustle at St Pancras International, two stops up the line on Eurostar’s cross-Channel network. The ticket offices slumber in a deep reverie, the staff at the Bureau de Change look around desperately in search of someone to serve, and there is less than a handful of passengers huddled over their coffees and phones at the café. The spacious concourse of Ashford International station in Kent is something of a get-away-from-it-all destination. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |