8 minutes to journey times and required 25 people joining the train there to make it economically viable. A petition to reinstate services gathered 11,000 signatures. A single direct train in each direction to Brussels was reinstated in 2009, following campaigning from Kent County Council and Ashford Borough Council. This was expanded the following year to allow direct services between Ashford, Lille and Brussels-South on weekends, making day trips to European cities from Ashford possible. In May 2015, a service to Marseille via Lyon and Avignon began running up to five times a week. In 2018, it was announced that the international platforms would undergo a £10m refurbishment to make them compatible with Eurostar's units, branded as Eurostar e320, as well as to allow other operators to use the station. The first Eurostar e320 stopped at Ashford on 3 April, with the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, and the MP for Ashford, Damian Green, on board. No other e320s stopped at Ashford International because of a technical fault until January 2020. In September 2020, Eurostar announced that due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent collapse in ticket revenue (down by 90%), both Ebbsfleet and Ashford International stations would not be served by Eurostar services until at least 2022. In September 2021, Eurostar confirmed that services would not resume until 2023, despite complaints by local politicians that this was "bad for Kent". Eurostar stated that they will resume services when commercially sensible to do so, as they will initially "focus on destinations where demand is highest". A further update in August 2022 confirmed that the station (along with Ebbsfleet International) would likely not open until at least 2025. Additional processing work caused by Brexit has also contributed to suspension of services. Domestic services In 2007, a new maintenance depot, operated by Hitachi, opened to the northeast of the station, alongside the Canterbury West branch. A high-speed domestic service, operated by Southeastern to London St Pancras via and , began with a trial service in June 2009. A test train running at up to covered the distance between Ashford International and St Pancras in 29 minutes. A full service began in December 2009, which has allowed Ashford to become a commuter town for London. Southern The Marshlink line from Ashford International to is one of the few in the south east that has not yet been electrified, and is