High-speed train operator Eurostar has ordered 50 trains from French company Alstom. These are double-decker trains, a first for Eurostar. Thanks to their double configuration, with two trains coupled together, they offer more than 1,000 seats per journey while traveling at a maximum speed of 320 km/h.
Eurostar needs the trains to open new routes and grow to 30 million passengers per year. The total order, comprising an initial confirmed order of 30 trains and an option for an additional 20, carries a price tag of 2 billion euros. The Alstom site in Charleroi will contribute to the production.
Five million additional passengers
The first six Alstom double-decker trains are expected to arrive in early 2031 and are scheduled to start carrying passengers from May 2031. Eurostar is likely to receive around 15 trains each year.
All trains will be able to operate in the five countries where Eurostar already operates (Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom), through the Channel Tunnel, and in Switzerland.
Compared to the current red Thalys trains, the new Celestia trains are larger, with 20% more seats per train, accommodating 540 passengers instead of 389. The fleet will also be expanded from 51 to 67 trains, with 17 current e320 high-speed trains built by Germany’s Siemens in addition to the new trains.
The expansion will enable further growth. In 2024, Eurostar carried 19.5 million passengers, and with its current fleet, its maximum capacity is 25 million.
Eurostar is counting on the new trains to achieve its ambition of 30 million passengers per year. “We want to increase frequencies to existing destinations, and we want to open new routes,” says Eurostar CEO Gwendoline Cazenave. For example, Eurostar plans to run trains to Geneva and Frankfurt, specifically from London to Geneva, Amsterdam to Brussels to Geneva, and London to Brussels to Frankfurt.
Alstom in Belgium is also contributing
The high-speed trains will be built in France, with ten of the company’s 14 French sites involved in the construction. Alstom in Belgium will also contribute. The site in Charleroi will supply static converters, electronic components that convert energy. Alstom’s train factory in Bruges is not involved.
“We talked to all the train manufacturers, but Alstom was able to deliver much faster than the other manufacturers,” says Cazenave, explaining the choice of Alstom.
This is because Alstom already has a so-called framework agreement with the French railway company SNCF, which holds a 55,75% stake in Eurostar. SNCF had already ordered the double-decker high-speed trains of the ‘Avelia Horizon’ type, and the Eurostar order could be added to that.
Is a price war on the horizon?
With this order, Eurostar also wants to arm itself against pressure from competitors. Trenitalia and British Virgin wish to launch a connection between Paris and London by 2029. Spanish company Evolyn and Dutch company Heuro are also interested.
Eurotunnel, the company that manages the Channel Tunnel, is looking for new operators, as the infrastructure can handle up to 1,000 trains per day, compared to 400 currently.
The British group London St. Pancras Highspeed, which operates the high-speed line between London and the Channel Tunnel, also estimates that it is operating at only 50% of its capacity. In 2024, St. Pancras’ operational capacity was 1,800 passengers per hour, while it aims to reach nearly 5,000 per hour in 2028.
Travelers hope that the opening up to competition will lead to a price war, as train tickets are often much more expensive than plane tickets on the Paris-London route, despite initial fares of £39 or €44.
