A VAST new international railway station was completed yesterday but will remain empty indefinitely because Eurostar is reluctant to stop there.

Stratford International was billed as East London’s gateway to Paris and Brussels and was supposed to be the centrepiece of Europe’s biggest urban regeneration scheme. But the ceremony to mark completion of the £210 million station was overshadowed by an admission that international trains might never use it.

The station will be very busy for a few weeks in the summer of 2012 as thousands of spectators head to and from the adjacent Olympic park. But it threatens to be Britain’s biggest transport white elephant, used at other times only by a few services carrying commuters from Kent.

Local politicians said yesterday that the absence of an international service would undermine the £4 billion Stratford City scheme, which aims to attract 30,000 jobs and 12,000 residents to derelict land around the station.

London and Continental Railways (LCR), which built the station and is completing the 186mph Channel Tunnel Rail Link, said that Stratford International had been conceived as the London stop for Eurostar services from northern England. Trains were supposed to start in Manchester or Leeds and skirt round the edge of Central London on their way to the Channel Tunnel. But, with the rapid growth of budget airlines linking northern cities with the Continent, all Eurostar trains will terminate at St Pancras from the autumn of next year.

Rob Holden, chief executive of LCR and deputy chairman of Eurostar, said: “There is probably no chance of Eurostar services to the North taking place. It is possible the station won’t be used until the Kent domestic services start at the end of 2009. We will not satisfy everybody. Politicians and the media will criticise us.”

He said that Eurostar had yet to make a final decision on where its trains would stop but an announcement would be made in early summer.

Calling at Stratford would add eight minutes to the journey between London and Paris or Brussels, eroding some of the time advantage over airlines. Mr Holden said: “Stopping a high-speed train seven minutes out of St Pancras is less than ideal.”

Mr Holden said that it would be awkward to handle international passengers during the construction of Stratford City and the Olympic park. “Stratford is going to be a big building site for a number of years.”

There is also uncertainty about the links between Stratford International and Stratford’s rail and Tube station, which are a third of a mile apart. LCR is considering a £25 million moving walkway. “We continue to examine the merits of a ‘travelator’ but we do have to recognise that it’s a very expensive bit of kit and difficult to maintain,” Mr Holden said.

Extending the Docklands Light Railway to Stratford International is also an option.

John Biggs, the London Assembly member for Stratford, said: “It would be a massive mistake not to operate international trains from Stratford, which is the major crossroads of East London with connections to Canary Wharf and Stansted airport. It would jeopardise the momentum behind Stratford’s regeneration and undermine efforts to attract world-class companies.”

Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, said: “I believe it is crucial for the regeneration of East London that an appropriate number of Eurostar trains stop at Stratford from 2009. From this time there will be a greater demand for Eurostar services following the major regeneration of the surrounding area.”

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