What this all means is that the economics have begun to work in favour of rail travel which is less affected by sudden increases in fuel costs. The majority of the European main lines are electrified using electricity generated increasingly from nuclear and renewable sources and less from gas, coal and oil. There is already evidence from across Europe and the UK of more people switching to rail due to increasing fuel costs at the pumps and higher air fares.

As the airlines are the main competitor with Eurostar, they are now under far more pressure to increase their fares than Eurostar are. In theory this could be good news, but there is a bit of a problem here. Eurostar have a monopoly on rail services between the UK and Europe. Their current service is the maximum that they can provide with the number of trains they can put into service each day. As more and more people use Eurostar, their “demand-led” fares will probably keep increasing until all their trains are full.

While we are pleased that Eurostar has ordered new trains and Virgin have also announced plans to run competing services, this will not be for another 3-4 years. In the meantime, UK residents may remain “cut-off” from affordable rail travel to and from European destinations.

To avoid the “sky-high” Eurostar fares, it may sometimes be cheaper to buy the cheapest Interrail passes, as they also give you free travel to & from “the border” at London St Pancras. The cheapest pass is the 4-day Flexi Pass which gives you unlimited travel across 33 different European Countries. Depending on your age these passes cost between £247 and £309 including the approximately £60 Eurostar reservation fees for a return journey to Paris, Brussels, Lille, Rotterdam & Amsterdam.

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This in stark contrast to the Swiss who now have a virtually 100% electric railway powered from mainly renewable sources which are not affected by the Gulf War. While train fares and much else are not that cheap in Switzerland the service is so frequent and reliable that they broke their punctuality records last year in 2025.

See here for a link to a recent report in the Swiss Media; https://lenews.ch/2026/01/28/swiss-railways-set-a-new-punctuality-record/

© CFF/SBB

Given the outrageous cost over-runs just for building a “truncated” HS2 from London to Birmingham, you might think that reviving such a link is a non-starter. However, Kayla Bibby -an Independent Traffic Planner thinks otherwise and has drawn up a plan. Tunnelling of the final section from Old Oak Common to Euston has only just begun and no final plan has been agreed for London Euston. She argues that there is still time to build this link as part of the Euston works for a cost of just £1.4 Billion – this is a small sum compared to the up to £90 billion total cost of building HS2. Opening up this link would make better use of HS2, as not just a London-Birmingham Shuttle but a strategic link from the Midlands and North to the expanding European High-Speed Network. Not building this link would relegate the UK to just remaining as a High-Speed branch-line from Lille. This is a plan for the long-term benefit of the UK economy and would help Liverpool & Manchester’s joint bid for the 2040 Olympics.

We strongly recommend that you have a look at her plan here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hs1hs2-connector-how-single-link-transforms-depots-services-bibby-jahfe/

EPF CONFERENCE 5th -6th JUNE in MAASTRICHT >>>>

Every Year the European Passenger Federation holds an Annual Conference in June. Last year it came to Swindon in the UK and this year it moves to The Netherlands. As many of you know, our campaign is one of 40+ EPF member organisations from 21 different countries. If you are a member of our campaign you can go to the conference for the much-reduced fee of 100 Euros – not bad for a 2-day conference?

To find out more about registration and the programme see here: epfconference.eu

 The “Reseau European en Train” https://reseauentrain.eu/?p=2434 and “European Rail Campaign (UK)” both promote rail as the preferred means of sustainable transport. However, this does not stop at transport alone but also considers its relationship with the territories (its effects on daily life, development and tourism in the regions served) and with other modes of transport. In this case, this statement focuses on the interaction between trains and passenger ships.

Definition and context – a few figures:

 This statement focuses on regular passenger transport by ferry, which provide regular passenger services by sea (more rarely by river), but excluding tourist cruise ships.

In the EU, these services carried 220 million passengers in 2024, and in the United Kingdom, 53 million passengers (38 million domestic and 15 million international.) In the UK, the main origin or destination country is (by far) France, followed by Ireland and the Netherlands. 

 Compared to the countless daily journeys made by train and especially by car, and relative to the population (450 million inhabitants for the EU, 68 million for the United Kingdom), these figures remain modest, as they mean that an inhabitant only takes the ferry once every two years on average. Nevertheless, this mode of transport is of vital importance for accessing a number of island territories, both for tourism and for the daily lives of residents. In the EU, the three countries with the most boat journeys, namely Italy, Greece and Denmark, which have an extensive network of islands that are connected by ferry. In the British Isles, ferries play the same role: they connect England not only to continental Europe and Ireland, but also to other British islands, notably the Isle of Wight, opposite Portsmouth, which has the highest volume of domestic traffic.

Relevance and sustainability of passenger transport by boat:

Furthermore, transport by boat is not easily replaceable.Sea crossings could only be replaced by either flying or building costly tunnels or bridges that are not without environmental damage, such as the Fehmarn Tunnel, currently under construction between Germany and Denmark. If these structures include a road link, which, with the exception of the Channel Tunnel, is always the case, they encourage an increase in road traffic.

 According to the European Environment Agency, travelling by sea emits an average of 61 grams of greenhouse gases per passenger-kilometre, which is more than the train (33 g) but much less than the coach, the private car and almost three times less than the airplane (80, 143 and 160 g respectively). According to these figures, boats are the means of transport with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions apart from trains. This can be accounted for by their low speed and resistance to forward movement offered by water.

Furthermore, due to their slower speed, boat journeys avoid the frenzy of air travel. In the years before Covid, between 2010 and 2019, passenger journeys by ferry fell in the United Kingdom and rose very moderately (by around 5%) in the European Union, thus avoiding the phenomenon of hyper growth in air travel. Ferries can therefore contribute to a form of peaceful travel, or slow tourism. Its use can therefore be encouraged if it is at the expense of air travel and also complements rail or other sustainable modes of transport.

It should be possible to travel on foot on all ferry routes:

 However, in Dover, operators seem to increasingly consider it as a mode of transport integrated with the car. Among the ferry operators departing from and arriving at this port, neither DFDS nor Irish Ferries offer the possibility of boarding for foot passengers.  Only P&O does this for only 2-3 crossings per day with excessive check-in and dis-embarkation times. This is a particularly important point, as Dover handled nine million passengers in 2024, representing the majority of boat crossings between the UK and continental Europe. Furthermore, it is also impossible for pedestrians or cyclists to use the Channel Tunnel shuttle services.

 It is paradoxical to discourage walking or cycling in this way, as the energy footprint of a foot passenger is much lower than that of a passenger with a car, due to the weight of the latter. The emission figures given above do not specify whether they take into account the weight of the car or that of the passenger alone, but it is clear that they differ strongly, probably by a factor of one to fifteen.

 Secondly pedestrian access to ferries should encourage intermodality with other public transport, such as bus and train. In Dover, as in Calais, the stations are far from the embarkation points, which significantly complicates intermodality between boat and train. In both Dover and Calais, the rail links between the Maritime/Marine stations and the Ville/Priory stations were closed in 1995, the year after the Eurostar high-speed service was launched. The connection with Calais Ville station is provided by a shuttle bus service, which is fairly frequent and runs during the daytime on Mondays to Saturdays. There is no connecting bus service between Dover Eastern Docks and Dover Priory rail station in the town.

The Reseau European en Train and European Rail Campaign UK are therefore calling on:

(1) All ferry companies to accept foot passengers and cyclists on all crossings between Dover, Calais and Dunkirk.

(2) For the local transport authorities to encourage proper bus connections between the ports and the rail stations.

(3) For the train operators on both sides of the channel to offer through “Rail/Sea/Rail ticketing between stations in their regions.

(4) And, in the longer term, to re-open rail passenger services between Calais Ville, Dover Priory and the ferry terminals.

More than 31 years after the first Eurostar left London for Paris, Eurostar may finally enjoy some competition from Virgin if and when they launch their new services to Paris & Brussels, hopefully in 2030. This is because the Office for Road & Rail (The Regulator) have ruled that Virgin must be allowed to share the Stratford train care depot with Eurostar. See here for the ORR Press Release: https://www.orr.gov.uk/search-news/rail-regulator-opens-door-future-international-train-services-temple-mills-access. Although Virgin have not been a train operator in the UK since 2019, they were able to make the best case to the Regulator. Virgin have raised suitable finance to order a fleet of “Avelia Stream” trains which can be maintained at the depot in Stratford.

While this is a start, Virgin will have their work cut out for the next 4+ years if the service is to start as planned in 2030. Hopefully, we can finally look forward to lower fares on the London to Paris & Brussels route with proper “through-ticketing” between major UK stations and all major stations in Europe. We now have to wait and see if any of their 3 rivals (Gemini Trains, Evolyn & Trenitalia France) have any further plans. From the UK side, we hope that one of them might have a viable plan to start a service using Stratford, Ebbsfleet and Ashford International stations.

We can recommend a very interesting discussion about this decision and what this might entail for the future. Have a look at this Green Signals video on Youtube at : Virgin Trains is BACK! And ready to take on Eurostar…

For further details see here a recent article in The Guardian >> https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/26/uk-government-backs-return-of-international-rail-travel-to-kent-stations?utm_term=68d61345380b57f0124f3767119ca142&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email

MEANWHILE, THERE WILL BE FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS IN DECEMBER WITH TRAIN SERVICES ON THE EUROPEAN MAINLAND >>>

From the December timetable change, there will be more Eurocity services between Berlin, Poznan and Warsw and a new direct service from Leipzig to Wroclaw, Krakow and Premsyl in southern Poland.

In Austria, the new “Koralbahn” tunnel will open in December, reducing journey times between Vienna and Klagenfurt in Southern Austria by about 45 minutes. This will also reduce the daytime journey between Vienna and Venice – which are two very popular destinations.

AND EASIER THROUGH TICKETING >>>

After a break of a few years, you can now again book through tickets from London with Deutsche Bahn to destinations in Germany and beyond.

There is an alternative choice of services via Paris GDLyon to Milano with an easy change in Geneva or Lausanne. This route provides at least one day-time journey opportunity from London.

Another alternative choice, also via Paris GDLyon to Milano, involves an easy change at Basel or Zurich. This route provides at least two day-time journey opportunities from London.

This is the first time for several years where all the main connections from London to Northern Italy via Paris are available. Either the Gotthard route through Switzerland had been partially closed for a year or the Simplon route via Lausanne had been periodically closed due to extensive engineering works.

AND FINALLY – A few places are still left for the EPF conference in Swindon on 13th/14th June. Members of our campaign are entitled to the discounted rate of 100 Euros. See the link below for details: https://www.epfconference.eu/

RUNWAYS TO RAILWAYS : UNLOCKING THE GROWTH POTENTIAL OF THE CHANNEL TUNNEL

Monday 31st March – 6pm to 8pm in London – The Campaign for Better Transport will be holding a panel discussion about how the UK can make better use of International Rail. See below to register for this free event.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/runways-to-railways-unlocking-the-growth-potential-of-the-channel-tunnel-tickets-1262329444349?aff=oddtdtcreator

RESTORING INTERNATIONAL SERVICES FROM ASHFORD & EBBSFLEET

A group of Kent & Sussex MPs have met with Eurostar urging them to carry out a proper assessment of consumer demand for train services serving these 2 stations in Kent. They also met with Virgin & the Rail Minister who confirmed they were both keen to see international services restored to the 2 Kent stations.

ORR – “THE REGULATOR” IS HELPING TO REMOVING ANOTHER BARRIER PREVENTING VIRGIN & EVOLYN STARTING NEW SERVICES FROM LONDON

Last year Virgin & Evolyn made a formal Section 17 depot access application to the ORR (The Office of Rail & Road) for permission to use the International Depot at Stratford for train-preparation & servicing. Eurostar then claimed that there was no space for another operator and also claimed that ORR have no power to make such a decision. The ORR have now ruled that they have the legal authority to make this decision and have appointed an independent expert to investigate & report. They then hope to make a decision later this year. We predict that they will rule that there is enough space, but, for only one new operator.

MORE EUROPEAN DESTINATIONS BECOMES GOVERNMENT POLICY

Lord Hendy – the Rail Minister stated in Parliament on 25th February “The Dft is working as hard as it can to increase the number of European destinations accessible through Eurotunnel”

AND NOW THE SWISS WANT TO COME TO LONDON

Now that the owners of HS1 and Getlink (who own the channel tunnel) are working together to develop more passenger services to/from Europe, our Department of Transport officials have been discussing with Swiss Federal Railways the feasibility of direct services between London and Switzerland. Direct high-speed trains from London to Geneva or Basel could offer journey times of just under 6 hours. See here for more details from Swiss Info: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/could-a-direct-high-speed-train-link-between-switzerland-and-london-soon-be-a-reality/49071586

Last week we heard that LSPH and Getlink (The owners of the Channel Tunnel) have made an agreement to facilitate the expansion of passenger traffic along HS1 and through the tunnel to Europe. They hope to triple passenger capacity within the next 5 years. We also understand that plans are also being drawn up to expand capacity in the overcrowded international departures area at Paris – Gare du Nord. See here a recent report in The Guardian: –https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/21/st-pancras-and-channel-tunnel-plan-rail-routes-to-germany-and-switzerland

The town of Swindon has a rich rail history and is associated with Rail 200 – a range of events across the UK celebrating 200 years of the railways.

The conference will take place on Friday 13th June and Saturday 14th June. European Rail campaign (UK) is a member of the European Passenger Federation, which means that members of our campaign are entitled to pay the reduced fee for the conference. See here for further details about the conference: https://www.epf.eu/wp/save-the-date-epf-22nd-annual-conference/?utm_source=Laposta&utm_campaign=EPF+newsletter+86&utm_medium=email

AT LAST – VIRGIN TO RUN AN INTERNATIONAL TRAIN SERVICE FROM THE UK IN 2029?

Virgin have recently announced that they hope to place an order for 12 new high-speed trains. They plan to use them on a new service competing with the current Eurostar services on HS1 and the Channel Tunnel. See here for further details: https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/01/13/virgin-group-speeds-up-train-order-to-compete-with-eurostar-challenge