Passengers will have more choice to international train services through the channel tunnel, the Rail and Road (Orr) office said.
It is said to assign extra capacity at Eurostar‘s Temple Mills Maintenance Depot in Northeast London to either one new operator or eurostar itself, planning to grow.
Eurostar has a monopoly in the management of passenger services through the channel tunnel.
Other organizations that develop proposals to start competitive services include billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson‘s virgin group, Italystate-owned railroad company FS Italiane Group, and Gemini trains, which are chaired by Labor Peer Lord Berkeley.
Access to depot space for maintaining and storing trains is a critical requirement for new operators or eurostar to increase services.
Van London St Pancras serves Eurostar Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, as well as the seasonal ski trains to the French Alps.
GetLink – The French owner of the Channel Tunnel – believes that there is the potential for services between London and locations such as Bordeaux, Cologne, Frankfurt, Geneva, Marseille and Zurich.
A Eurostar E320 velocity train that is in 2021 by Ashford in Kent on the way to France
Passengers in London St Pancras on March 7 after eurostar trains were stopped to the capital after discovering an unbeated World War II bomb near the tracks in Paris
Train schedules are displayed on the monitor by the eurostar cover gates at St Pancras
The Deputy Director of the Orr for Access and International, Martin Jones, said: ‘The growing appetite to provide international spording services is good news for passengers.
“We now need operators to postpone more details about their proposals, and will work quickly and as well as possible to determine the best use of capacity at Temple Mills.”
The regulator said he expected to conclude later this year.
It comes two weeks after Uber said it signed an agreement to sign train tunnel trains ‘co-brand’.
It has formed a partnership with Gemini Trains, which develops plans to launch internation services of St Pancras and intends to buy 10 new trains for its services.
The Orr said it would assign extra capacity at Eurostar’s Temple Mills Insition Depot (in the photo) in London to one new operator or eurostar itself, planning to grow
Passengers at St Pancras station in London, which serves Eurostar trains since 2007
EBBSFlete International Station was opened for Eurostar trains in 2007, but they stopped in 2020
EUROSTAR staff waved on November 14, 2007 from their first train to Paris in London St Pancras
The initial routes would be from London St Pancras to Paris and Brussels – calling Ebbsfleet, Kent, with plans to expand services to other European destinations.
Eurostar stopped calling in March 2020 during the Coronavirus pandemic at Ebbsfleet and Ashford, also in Kent.
Despite the local pressure for resuming services, the company said it was focusing on its core routes.
As far as other potential competitors are concerned, Virgin Group said in March that there are “no more major obstacles to overcome” before it can start working.
Meanwhile, efforts to establish direct train services between the UK and Switzerland have a step closer in recent weeks after the countries have reached a cooperation agreement.
Passengers stand in line to enter the old Eurostar terminals at London Waterloo Station in 2001
Queen Elizabeth II walks at the Eurostar at Gare du Nord Station in Paris on April 5, 2004
Passengers in London Waterloo, who acted as the Eurostar Terminal from 1994 to 2007
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh traveling on the Eurostar train on May 7, 1994
The channel tunnel as it was officially opened on May 6, 1994 by Queen Elizabeth II and France’s then President Francois Mitterrand (together on Calais) in the photo)
A memorandum of understanding was signed last month in an attempt to address barriers to the rail link, such as meeting border control and safety rules of the Tunnel Tunnel, the Department of Transport (DFT) said.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander held talks on the issue with Swiss Minister of Transport Albert Rosti at St Pancras station in London.
Most passengers traveling by train between St Pancras and Switzerland change trains and stations in Paris, leading to a total travel time to and from Geneva of about seven and a half hours.
It can be reduced to about five hours if the services were directly.
London St Pancras Highspeed, which owns the St Pancras station and the high-speed line to the channel tunnel, said the line to the tunnel works with about 50 percent capacity.
