Eurostar has announced new destinations that it intends to operate with its new fleet of trains.
Up to 50 new trains could be in service from the early 2030s and these new trains will operate on new services between London and Frankfurt, London and Geneva and Amsterdam / Brussels – Geneva.
The 50 new trains will operate alongside 17 e320s and will see an investment of €2 billion.
Gwendoline Cazenave, Eurostar CEO, said: “We’re seeing strong demand for train travel across Europe, with customers wanting to go further by rail than ever before and enjoy the unique experience we provide. Despite the challenging economic climate, Eurostar is growing and has bold ambitions for the future. Our new fleet will make new destinations for customers a reality – notably direct trains between London and Germany, and between London and Switzerland for the first time. A new golden age of international sustainable travel is here.”
Alain Krakovitch, President of the Eurostar Group, Director of TGV-INTERCITÉS at SNCF Voyageurs, said: “2024 is an exceptional year, crowned by the successes of the Olympic Games. Eurostar is in good shape to serve 30 million passengers and the ambition to develop our European services remains strong.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “I am pleased to welcome this exciting investment into Eurostar services, which is a huge step in promoting green travel across Europe and boosting our international rail connections.”
“Last month, I signed a landmark agreement to deliver a direct rail link between London and Switzerland, paving the way for direct commercial services. Today’s announcement by Eurostar shows that the government’s plan for change is rapidly strengthening the links between major cities in counties across Europe, creating more opportunities to travel, work, and socialise.”
Responses
This is a very positive move. Services could potentially be to many, many destinations outside of what is already available from St Pancras, which I feel is very under utilised. Additionally, if HS2 were connected to HS1, and HS1 built properly all the way to Scotland, we could enjoy a truly pan European network!
Bravo, we want more!😊 It is truly encouraging that there are more and more cross border train services within Europe, the right choice for the environment without a doubt.