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Cllr John MorrisCanning Town South · London Borough of Newham
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Transport

Stratford International: time to live up to its name

Seventeen years after it opened, the station in the middle of the Olympic Park has still never sold a ticket to Paris. The Mayor says that is about to change. Here is where things really stand.

Every day, Eurostar trains thunder through Stratford International on their way between St Pancras and the Channel Tunnel. Not one of them stops. The station has carried the word “International” since it opened in 2009, sits at the end of International Way in the International Quarter, and has two long platforms built for trains to Europe. They have never been used for that purpose.

Last week Sadiq Khan wrote in City AM that his plans to change this are now within “touching distance”. It is the strongest claim any Mayor has made on the subject. For those of us in Newham who have heard promises about Stratford International for a generation, it is worth looking hard at what has been done, what is still missing, and what it would mean for east London if it finally happens.

How we got here

Stratford International was built for trains that never came. It was planned as the London stop for “Regional Eurostar” services, which were meant to run from Paris and Brussels past London to Birmingham, Manchester and beyond. Those trains were cancelled before the line was finished.

Construction began in July 2001 as part of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, now High Speed 1. The concrete box was complete by 2006, at a reported cost of around £210m. That same year, London & Continental Railways announced that international trains would not call there when the line opened. Its chief executive argued that stopping a high-speed train seven minutes out of St Pancras made little sense.

The station finally opened on 30 November 2009, for Southeastern’s domestic Javelin trains to Kent. The DLR arrived in 2011. In 2010, Newham’s then Mayor Sir Robin Wales and Westfield’s chief executive urged the Transport Secretary to make Eurostar stop. Eurostar refused, even for the 2012 Olympics.

So the station we have is half-built for its original purpose. The two outer platforms, around 400 metres long, were designed for international trains and sit unused. The space above them, meant for passport checks and security, was never fitted out.

What the Mayor is doing

The new element in Sadiq Khan’s push is money. City Hall has submitted an application for a Business Rate Retention Zone covering Stratford, which would let growth in local business rates help pay for the infrastructure needed for the next phase of east London’s development, including the international station.

That matters because the problem has never really been the platforms. Until now, any operator wanting to stop at Stratford would have carried the entire cost and risk of fitting out the station and staffing it. The Mayor’s argument is that the wider economic return justifies the public sector sharing that risk. According to the Standard, his team has spent months working with the government on funding, the station upgrade, and customs and border arrangements, and his officials are meeting train operators, authorities in Paris and business backers.

The Mayor has also been sharpening the economic case. In his City AM piece he says international services at Stratford would bring an extra £1.3bn in tourist spending to the UK. He points out that the Olympic Park already supports more than 38,000 jobs and could add 11,000 more by 2035. And he frames rail to Europe as a greener alternative to a third runway at Heathrow.

This has been a longer road than the headlines suggest. As recently as late 2025, the Mayor told the London Assembly that stopping at Stratford was ultimately a commercial decision for operators, and that Virgin had not made it part of its core plans. Moving from “it’s up to the operators” to putting a funding mechanism on the table is a real shift.

Credit also belongs to others. Sir Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham, first raised a Stratford stop as chair of Newham’s planning committee in the late 1980s and has pressed the case ever since. Westfield’s owners have backed it too.

Why now is different

For the first time in the station’s life, Eurostar is not the only company planning to run trains through the Channel Tunnel. Three challengers are in the race, and one of them has said it will look at Stratford.

Operator Where it stands Planned start Stratford?
Eurostar Runs every cross-Channel service today Running now Has declined a second London stop
Virgin Trains Won access to Temple Mills depot in October 2025; approved for up to 20 daily returns to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam October 2030 Says it will explore Stratford as an extra stop
Trenitalia Ordered 19 Hitachi trains (€2bn); building a depot near Paris 2029 Not yet raised
Gemini Trains Backed by Siemens, Rock Rail and Uber; lost its Temple Mills bid 2029 target Wants Stratford as its London terminus

There is a capacity argument too. St Pancras has only six international platforms, and Virgin’s approval alone could add up to 20 return trips a day alongside Eurostar’s own growth. Boarding some passengers at Stratford would take pressure off a crowded terminal, which is why the owner of HS1 is unlikely to stand in the way.

The government is reported to support a Stratford stop as well. But the regulator has been clear that it cannot make any operator run particular services or call at particular stations. In the end, a train company still has to choose to stop.

What it would mean for Newham

For east Londoners, the most immediate change would be time. Today, anyone in Newham heading to Paris or Brussels travels west to King’s Cross first. The DLR already runs from Stratford International through Canning Town to the Royal Docks and Woolwich, so for my own ward, Canning Town South, the continent would be a short ride away rather than a trip across the city.

The bigger prize is economic. An international station would make Stratford a front door to London for visitors, investors and students, not just a stop on the way in. That supports the institutions now arriving at East Bank and Here East, and the offices of the International Quarter next door. The station itself would need staff, from border officers to security and retail, and some of those jobs should go to local people.

There is a fairness argument as well. The Olympic legacy promised that Newham would share in the growth it hosted. A working international station is one of the most visible pieces of that promise still outstanding, and delivering it would show residents that the commitments made in 2012 meant something.

What still stands in the way

“Touching distance” is not the same as done. Supporters of the scheme, me included, should be honest about the hurdles that remain.

  • The terminal is an empty shell. Rail analyst Jon Worth, who has examined the station, reports that the space above the international platforms was never fitted out, and was designed for only around 250 passengers at a time. That is less than a third of a full-length train.
  • Someone has to pay for border staff. Passport checks and security screening need people every day a train calls. Ebbsfleet and Ashford already have fully equipped terminals, yet have had no international trains since 2020 because nobody will cover those running costs. Stratford must avoid the same fate.
  • Border arrangements need agreement with France. The Mayor’s team lists customs and border arrangements among the key issues still being worked through with government.
  • No operator has committed. Eurostar has said no. Virgin will explore a stop but its services do not start until 2030. Gemini wants Stratford as a terminus but has no depot, and the track layout makes turning trains round at Stratford difficult.
  • The funding is not yet approved. The Business Rate Retention Zone is an application, not a decision.
  • Stratford’s main station is already full. Around 100 million passengers use it each year, and the Mayor himself says it needs upgrading alongside any international plans.

None of this makes the project impossible. It does mean the first international train is unlikely to call at Stratford before the end of the decade.

What needs to happen next

The Mayor has done what operators have long said was missing: offered a way to share the cost. Now the pieces need to come together.

  1. Government should approve the Stratford Business Rate Retention Zone and confirm that it can fund the terminal fit-out.
  2. City Hall and ministers should settle who pays for border staffing. A model that works at Stratford could also bring Ebbsfleet and Ashford back into use.
  3. Virgin and Trenitalia should be encouraged to commit early. A stop in east London is a way for a new operator to stand out from Eurostar, and the earlier it is in their timetables the cheaper it is to plan.
  4. Newham must make sure local people benefit, with jobs at the station and training linked to the wider Stratford development.

Stratford International was built on a promise to east London. After seventeen years of trains rushing past, there is finally a credible plan to keep it. I will be backing the Mayor’s efforts, and pressing to make sure the residents of Newham are first in line for the opportunities it brings.

Sources

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