A newly emerged competitor to Eurostar says it intends to offer a stopping service from Ashford International - but not initially.

Gemini Trains, spearheaded by former Eurotunnel executive and Labour peer Lord Berkeley, revealed this week it was joining the likes of the Virgin Group in seeking to offer an alternative London to Europe rail link.

Currently, Eurostar has a monopoly on running services.

The emergence of potential competitors has revived hopes Kent’s two international stations - Ebbsfleet and Ashford - could once again feature on timetables after being mothballed by Eurostar since the start of the pandemic.

In its initial proposals, Gemini states it intends to run services from both London and Ebbsfleet.

When questioned by KentOnline about its plans for Ashford, chief executive of Gemini, Adrian Quine, said: “Ebbsfleet very much features from launch with services going to both Paris and Brussels.

“Ashford is not planned for the initial phase.

“But as the service grows, we are certainly interested in widening destinations across continental Europe and the UK and Ashford is very much on the radar - just not from the initial launch in 2029.”

It will provide a spark of hope for a town which invested millions into facilitating the high-speed rail service but has been snubbed by Eurostar for the last five years. It will, however, be a blow for those hoping a rival to Eurostar would exploit its lack of a stopping service from the get-go.

Any immediate hopes of a return were dashed earlier this month when Eurostar’s chief commercial officer, François Le Doze, said bringing trains back to Kent “doesn’t make sense right now”.

The company has previously stated just 4% of its passengers boarded at the two Kent stations.

He added: “The biggest reason is resources.

“We’d have to take resources from key stations like St Pancras, which, at its peak time, takes up to 22,000 people a day.

“On average, it’s 11,000-16,000 passengers per day.

“We’ve also invested €10 million on the EU’s new Entry/Exit system (EES) for border crossings, and would need to invest a huge amount into installing new kiosks and training staff up for this location, which doesn’t make sense right now.”

Eurostar’s treatment of its Kent outliers has infuriated locals with an online petition set up calling for a resumption of Kent services attracting close to 63,000 signatures.

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group has also expressed an interest in starting a rival service - also earmarked to start in 2029 - while Spanish start-up Evolyn has also said it is looking to launch, although its 2026 launch date when first revealed two years ago, is almost certainly not going to be met.

To add to that, Dutch company Heurotrain also said it wants in on the action.

All will be facing the same initial dilemma - how to raise the hundreds of millions of pounds required to buy the trains and establish the infrastructure to operate a service.

Gemini says it has been developing its plans over the last two years.

Tony Berkeley - made a life peer in 2000 - is no stranger to the rail industry. He was public affairs manager of Eurotunnel from 1981 until the end of construction of the Channel Tunnel in 1994.

From 1994, he led the Piggyback Consortium, developing new ways of carrying trucks on trains, before becoming chairman of the Rail Freight Group, the industry body of the rail freight sector, from 1998 to 2018. He was also a board member and past president of the European Rail Freight Association, the grouping of private operators and other companies promoting European rail freight transport.

A spokesperson for Gemini said the company “understands the growing demand for long-distance rail travel and recognises rail competition is expanding significantly in Europe. Yet on the core Channel Tunnel route currently, there remains only one choice for customers”.

It added: “We believe there is a significant opportunity for a dynamic and innovative operator offering mixed ‘economy’ and ‘business’ seats at a competitive price to Eurostar.”

Eurostar pay Eurotunnel’s owner Getlink to use the Channel Tunnel, but Getlink has been vocal about the opportunities to exploit spare capacity to run rival services. It would also be highly beneficial to it to have additional operators.