Not a week goes by now, so to speak, without a new competitor to the Eurostar being announced. Now, the Italian rail group Ferrovie dello Stato also wants to run high-speed trains between London and Paris via the Channel Tunnel by 2029.
It has planned an investment of one billion euros for this purpose. It has also signed an agreement in principle for HST cooperation with the Spanish company Evolyn, which previously signaled its intention to compete with Eurostar.
Other potential competitors that have emerged in recent months include British billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, German rail operator Deutsche Bahn, Spanish Renfe, Swiss SBB, Dutch Heurotrain, and British Gemini Trains.
Frecciarossa-inspired railcars
According to the Italian rail group, the London-Paris link is part of its strategic plan, “which defines the expansion of high-speed rail links in Europe as one of its priorities.” It also looks at extending the London-Paris line “via Lille, Ashford, Lyon, Marseilles, and Milan.”
Ferrovie dello Stato would run ‘Frecciarossa-inspired railcars’ on the rail link. Frecciarossa is the name of the current speed trains that track in Italy and parts of France, including between Paris, Lyon, and Milan.
“The consolidated presence of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane both in France, with Trenitalia France, and in the United Kingdom, with Trenitalia UK, offers an important competitive advantage to enter this strategic corridor,” the press release says.
Lucrative proposal
Eurostar, partly owned by SNCF Voyageurs and the Belgian rail operator NMBS/SCNB, among others, is currently the only player carrying passengers by train between continental Europe and London.
London St. Pancras Highspeed, the operator of the high-speed line between London and the Channel Tunnel, announced a few days ago that it would provide financial support to rail companies using the line. It also wants to nearly triple capacity at St. Pancras station to 5,000 train passengers per hour.
The operator points out that the rail line between the Channel Tunnel and St. Pancras station is currently only used at 50% of its capacity. London St. Pancras Highspeed hopes to launch the support program by the end of May. It estimates it could boost a rail operator between 40 and 60 million pounds over three years.
The support has two parts. The first part is aimed at new players in the market. They can get a discount on the fee they have to pay to use the rail line. Rail operators also charge a fee per additional passenger.
Fighting for one spot
However, any new Channel Tunnel operator will need to obtain regulatory approval. The British Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said last month that some capacity at Eurostar’s Temple Mills maintenance depot in north-east London could be made available to other operators, but places are scarce anyway.
Eurotunnel, the company that manages the Channel Tunnel, constantly seeks to attract new operators. According to its CEO, Yann Leriche, the tunnel can accommodate up to 1,000 trains per day instead of the current 400.
In 2024, 19.5 million customers traveled with Eurostar, which hopes to carry 30 million passengers and acquire 50 new trains by 2030.
A new study shows that demand for international rail travel on the UK’s only high-speed line, which runs from London to Folkestone, is predicted to triple over the next 15 years, increasing from 11 million to 35 million passengers per year.
Modeling also indicates that up to 18 additional daily services could run on existing routes. At the same time, demand could support the launch of trains to as many as five new destinations across Western Europe.
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