Question about Ebbsfleet International - Eurostar and Southeastern services

[Jack D]

Hi all,

For context I'm a writer and I'm setting a short story at Ebbsfleet International station. I need to know at what speed the Eurostar trains pass through the station. Does anyone have any ideas of this? I would also like to know the rough speed of the Southeastern High Speed trains when they enter and department the platforms. Would anyone know this or point me in the right direction of where I can find this information?

Thank you

Jack

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The linespeed is 125 mph to Stratford then 140 mph to Ebbsfleet; therefore the highest speed you'd get from a Eurostar passing through Ebbsfleet would be 140 mph; the increase to the full 186 mph linespeed is after the station.

Hopefully someone will be along with the relevant page(s) from the Sectional Appendix shortly...

...and you'd need someone who drives the 395s to confirm the speed entering and leaving the platform on those, unless of course you want to pay me to spend a day going backwards and forwards between St Pancras and Ashford monitoring them in and out of Ebbsfleet with my GPS...

 

[Jack D]

How fast would a train have to go for the turbulence to knock someone over. Again, thinking with my writing hat on here. I’m assuming fasting than that or else people would be knocked over all the time!

 

[Edvid]

The linespeed is 125 mph to Stratford then 140 mph to Ebbsfleet; therefore the highest speed you'd get from a Eurostar passing through Ebbsfleet would be 140 mph; the increase to the full 186 mph linespeed is after the station.

Technically it's 200km/h to just beyond the Corsica Street shaft, 230km/h to Southfleet Junction and 300 km/h (for the most part) thereafter.

Hopefully someone will be along with the relevant page(s) from the Sectional Appendix shortly...

Yes indeed. The HS1 SA link is under the sub-heading "Bylaws & Codes"; line of route is page 11 onwards.

Key Regulatory Documents - London St. Pancras Highspeed

Read more about ' Key Regulatory Documents ' from London St. Pancras Highspeed.

stpancras-highspeed.com

 

[eastwestdivide]

The Eurostars pass Ebbsfleet on the outer tracks, and don't go through the platform lines, so that's kind of ruled out. And the SE trains don't go fast enough to blow someone over if they're stopping. Presumably any non-stop SE trains would also use the outer tracks nowhere near a platform edge

 

[Edvid]

Presumably any non-stop SE trains would also use the outer tracks

The one I used years ago certainly did. According to the timetable there are two per weekday (am/pm peak) in each direction.

 

[zwk500]

How fast would a train have to go for the turbulence to knock someone over. Again, thinking with my writing hat on here. I’m assuming fasting than that or else people would be knocked over all the time!

At Ebbsfleet, such a situation is extremely unlikely as there are non-platform lines for the non-stop trains.

From the Sectional Appendix, The international platforms are 130kph (80mph) in each direction, and the domestic island is 130kph London-Bound and 100kph (60mph) away from London. So if the fast lines were closed for whatever reason, the fastest a train could pass a platform at Ebbsfleet is just over 80mph. The turbulence from a modern high speed train at this speed would likely be felt, but not strong enough to pull somebody off their feet unless they had a particular condition or were incredibly inattentive. I have stood on the platform c.2m back as 125mph trains have run through Milton Keynes and although you certainly feel it I never felt anywhere near being knocked over.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

@Jack D - Assuming ( without asking you to give away any details of your plot, of course ) that the story involves some villain getting caught after being bowled over by a train, would the story work if said villain ( or whoever ) approached the edge of the platform too closely not realising that the approaching train was one of those four daily non-stops, having been routed through the platform because of some error or failure somewhere, and they trip over while trying to get back from the edge in a hurry? Something like that? Would that work for you?

 

[Jack D]

@Jack D - Assuming ( without asking you to give away any details of your plot, of course ) that the story involves some villain getting caught after being bowled over by a train, would the story work if said villain ( or whoever ) approached the edge of the platform too closely not realising that the approaching train was one of those four daily non-stops, having been routed through the platform because of some error or failure somewhere, and they trip over while trying to get back from the edge in a hurry? Something like that? Would that work for you?

Sadly no. In my story Ebbsfleet station is the location where several people disappear. One moment they're on the platform and the next they're not. They just simply vanish. The security guard at the station, from whose POV the story is told, becomes the main suspect. I've not worked out HOW the people disappear yet, apart from the fact it has to be on a CCTV blindspot or the CCTV has to break. The WHO is also a bit of a question. It's either the Inspector investigating the missing people, the security guard who is an unreliable narrator or a third person.

Another idea I had was for a train to somehow snatch them. Think of that weird truck from Stephen King's short story Mile 81. It's a truck that eats people. High Speed trains, particularly when they're sweeping down at you can be intimidating. I don't know if I should go with a realistic answer or a supernatural one...

It's still early days yet.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Intriguing... and sounds very readable... I like the sound of this.

You could have someone kidnapping them in a blind spot on the platform and dragging them onto a train and away......? Not sure there actually are any blind spots, but if that person had access to the CCTV system and was able to disable a specific camera or two* for a while to hide his crimes...???

*Think of the scene in a film where a series of CCTV cameras are looped so things look normal to the security bods monitoring them who don't realise they're watching the same few seconds over and over again.

 

[Jack D]

There is a disused footbridge about 150meters south of the station, isn't there? That could somehow play a part, does anyone have any more info on that?

I was hoping that Ebbsfleet had a shunting yard or depo but I was misremembering it in my mind. Drat.

 

[Trainguy34]

There is a disused footbridge about 150meters south of the station, isn't there? That could somehow play a part, does anyone have any more info on that?

I was hoping that Ebbsfleet had a shunting yard or depo but I was misremembering it in my mind. Drat.

Not sure it's a footbridge, but yeah, it does exist. The closest yard by train would probably be Ashford or Gillingham annoyingly.

 

[Dr Hoo]

How about re-positioning the story to the past (before CCTV) and locating it at a station with a ‘hollow’ wooden platform? Chestfield & Swalecliff was the Kentish inspiration for this thought. A spring-loaded trapdoor disguised as a manhole. Kind of Sweeney Todd story. The trapdoor is only operated when a train is passing through and any potential witness will be watching the train?

 

[zwk500]

Not sure there actually are any blind spots,

I'd be surprised if CCTV covered every single inch of the station in absolute view, given the amount of station furniture but then again it does have higher security for the international services.

I was hoping that Ebbsfleet had a shunting yard or depo but I was misremembering it in my mind. Drat.

There are a couple of sidings just off the connection to the North Kent Line in the old quarry but nothing particularly near the station. Ebbsfleet does have platforms 5 and 6 rather far away from the station but they'd not be high speed, and nearly everything would stop.
One thing that might be useful is the fact that the tracks at Ebbsfleet are reasonably far apart due to the platform layout, although the international tracks are fenced off to prevent passenger hopping across. For a good sense of the station layout, I'd recommend this site: https://www.kentrail.org.uk/Ebbsfleet.htm

 

[andythebrave]

A rogue 395 driver enticing folk into the cab for a ride and ... dealing.... with the remains at a dark depot at end of shift? Faulty platform end CCTV not linked to disappearances?