Getlink To Enable The Doubling Of Direct High Speed Rail Services From The UK Over The Next 10 Years Via The Channel Tunnel
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Getlink.
This is the sub-heading.
This doubling will be achieved by reducing the “time to market” from 10 to 5 years for operators who intend to launch new services between London and Cologne, London and Frankfurt, London and Geneva, London and Zurich.
These three paragraphs introduce the press release.
On 6 May 2024, Eurotunnel, a wholly owned subsidiary of Getlink, will celebrate 30 years since the opening of the Channel Tunnel and the introduction of the first LeShuttle and LeShuttle Freight rail services linking Folkestone (Kent)to Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais). This year will also mark the 30th anniversary of the first direct rail links between London and Paris, and London and Brussels.
Three decades after this pioneering step forward in Europe’s rail network, and in the wake of the development of the recently introduced link between London and Amsterdam, Eurotunnel is aiming to further accelerate the low-carbon mobility of people between the UK and continental Europe by doubling the number of new direct destinations from London via the Channel Tunnel over the next 10 years.
The reduction in the time needed to launch new services to just 5 years is the fruit of the work by Eurotunnel, the infrastructure manager and keystone of the cross-Channel high-speed links, in cooperation with partners from across the European ecosystem (infrastructure managers, authorities, manufacturers, regulators).
Getlink will use these four steps towards simplification.
- Market research carried out by Eurotunnel to identify destinations.
- Standardisation of Tunnel regulations with the relevant authorities.
- Integration of tunnel specific criteria with manufacturers in their standard rolling stock offering.
- Preparing cross-Channel connections with network operators and stations.
It will be so good to have more services between London and Europe.
The Anonymous Widower 
Still waiting for Manchester and other places other than London to get direct train services to Paris, Brussels etc. Original service was announced in the 90’s (Nightstar), but blocked by dinosaurs in the Home Office and HM C&E (now HMRC) refusing to do checks on the trains, like everywhere else in Europe (until Schengen and Customs Union). The rolling stock sold off unused at a massive loss to Canada.
Meanwhile the Leave lampreys in Kent (which voted for Brexit) are petitioning to get their Euro train services back, which ceased due to all the extra checks required now we have left.
Comment by R. Mark Clayton | December 21, 2023 |
Positive noises on Eurostar competition at the Parliamentary Group on Tuesday https://www.railwaygazette.com/passenger/turning-point-reached-for-potential-new-channel-tunnel-train-operators/67863.article
Comment by Peter Robins | November 21, 2024 |