2025 – A YEAR OF “ANNOUNCEMENTS”

During the past year we have enjoyed a series of announcements. It began with up to 5 possible competitors announcing their plans to compete against Eurostar from London. As there is limited room for servicing the trains at the depot in Stratford, the Regulator (Office for Road & Rail) then had to make a decision and invited all the competitors to make formal bids to use the depot. The Regulator then announced in October that Virgin had the most viable offer to run services to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam using trains they plan to order. Eurostar had also announced their own plans to order new trains and run more services in the future. During the course of the year, we

AFTER A LONG WAIT VIRGIN RETURNS TO RAIL >>THIS TIME DESTINATION EUROPE

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

OCTOBER DECISION ON TRAIN DEPOT EXPECTED

We are now waiting for the Office for Road and Rail to decide which train operators will be able to use the Eurostar depot at Stratford. HM Government is now keen for one of the train operators to also serve the empty platforms at Stratford, Ebbsfleet and Ashford International. 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

AND NOW THERE WERE SEVEN + EUROSTAR

Late last year, on the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Channel Tunnel, we still had only one train company running passenger services between London and the continent. 6 months into 2025, we now have at least 7 other possible competitors to Eurostar who are:- 1 Deutsche Bahn – They are the German State Rail Operator. They could probably raise the finance and already use similar trains to the e320s used by Eurostar. They have not given a launch-date for any services. 2 Evolyn/FS Italiane Group – This is a joint venture between a large Spanish coach company and Italian State Railways. They can probably raise the finance and claim that the Trenitalia ETR 400 trains could be adapted

PROGRESS – AT LAST !!

RUNWAYS TO RAILWAYS: At the end of March, the Campaign for Better Transport held their conference on International Rail. You may wish to read their Runways to Railways report at: https://bettertransport.org.uk/research/runways-to-railways-unlocking-the-potential-of-the-channel-tunnel/ THEN THE REGULATOR STEPS IN !! On the same day the Regulator (The Office for Rail & Road) confirmed that there was space for more than one train operator to use the depot in Stratford. This then led to 3 train operators making formal bids to run international train services from London to the continent via HS1 and the Channel Tunnel. The 3 organisations who made formal bids were Evolyn, Virgin and Gemini. There are also up to 4 others who have publicly expressed an interest. Being realistic, only

“QUITE A LOT HAS BEEN GOING ON RECENTLY”

We have some fairly positive news to report this month, beginning with: 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

EUROPE RETURNS TO THE UK IN 2025

This year the European Passenger Federation will hold their 22nd annual conference in Swindon at the Steam Museum, which is near to the rail station. This will be the first time they have held their conference in the UK since 2008. 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:

FIRST STEPS TOWARDS INCREASED CAPACITY AT LONDON ST PANCRAS INTERNATIONAL

Finally, “Active Thinking” have now published their initial report which suggests capacity at the over-crowded Eurostar Terminal could actually be increased by around 33% during the next 3-4 years. They also say that in the long-term, with a re-design of the terminal, capacity could be further doubled to cater for up to 5,000 passengers per hour. We now have to hope that the terminals at the other end of the line in Europe will also be able to cope with the extra passengers. For further details please see : https://www.railwaygazette.com/uk/study-finds-international-passenger-capacity-at-london-st-pancras-could-be-doubled/68004.article AND THEN COULD THERE NOW BE SOME COMPETITION WITH EUROSTAR ? There was a very interesting session of “The House of Commons All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group on the 19th November.

30 YEARS OF EUROSTAR – AN ANNIVERSARY TO CELEBRATE ?

Eurostar is 30 years today, since regular train services started to run through the channel tunnel. It was not until 2007 that the full benefits of High-speed rail were realised when HS1 was completed when the London Terminal was moved from Waterloo to St Pancras. Although, in recent years, a through service from London to Rotterdam and Amsterdam has been introduced, other services have been permanently withdrawn or not re-instated since the outbreak of Covid in early 2020. There are no longer any through services from the UK to EuroDisney, the South of France or the Ski resorts in the French Alps. Since Covid, trains no longer serve the intermediate stations of Ebbsfleet, Ashford and Calais Frethun. WHERE ARE WE

NOW IS THE TIME FOR EUROSTAR TO RETURN TO KENT

It is now about 4 years, since Eurostar stopped serving Ashford and Ebbsfleet. After a few difficult years due to Covid, Eurostar have recently announced “healthy profits”, increasing passenger numbers and an order for new trains. 2024 could be the ideal opportunity to re-launch these services to co-incide with the 30th anniversary of rail services through the Channel Tunnel. Yet, Eurostar still have no plans to re-instate these services either in 2024 or 2025. People in Kent will still have to travel back to and from London and pay the extra fare to Southeastern trains. As Eurostar can issue cheap add-on tickets to/from any station in Belgium, surely, they could do the same to/from any station in Kent? See here