New direct train routes from London to Germany, Switzerland and France could open as part of plans to boost passenger numbers at St Pancras station.

London St Pancras Highspeed, which owns the station and operates the track to the Channel Tunnel in Folkestone, has already set out proposals to increase capacity for international train travel from 1,800 passengers per hour to almost 5,000.  It now wants to attract different train operators to offer a range of services in Europe.

Eurostar currently holds a monopoly on the trains through the Channel Tunnel with routes to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

London St Pancras Highspeed and Getlink have signed an agreement that will help them to commit to expanding rail connectivity between the UK and Europe.

"Many European cities could be reached directly by train in under six hours which we believe is really competitive with short-haul air travel," said a spokesperson for London St Pancras Highspeed.

Yann Leriche, chief executive of Getlink, which owns Eurotunnel, said: "We are keen to drive forward attractive opportunities for low-carbon mobility with a range of new destinations in Germany, Switzerland and France."

Getlink believes it is possible for train services to Bordeaux, Cologne, Frankfurt, Geneva, Marseille and Zurich to be created.  No set timeline has been revealed as yet.

Eurostar dropped services between London and Disneyland Paris in June 2023, and no longer has routes between London and the south of France.

Virgin Group and Evolyn are two companies developing plans for rival services to Eurostar that could take passengers to the newly proposed destinations.  Virgin acknowledged that it would be a "huge undertaking" to establish a new cross-Channel operator but said the route was "ripe for change with plenty of room and potential for new competition at St Pancras and through the Tunnel".

Competition between different companies on the route would benefit all customers, a spokesperson added.  London St Pancras Highspeed and Getlink have signed an agreement that will help them to commit to expanding rail connectivity between the UK and Europe.

Robert Sinclair, chief executive of London St Pancras Highspeed, said demand for international train travel was growing.  He said his company would work with Getlink "to encourage new and existing train operators to expand capacity and launch new destinations unlocking the potential of a fully connected Europe".

St Pancras plans ...

The station's name comes from the St. Pancras parish, whose name originates from the fourth-century Christian boy martyr Pancras of Rome.

Pancras (Latin: Sanctus Pancratius) was a Roman citizen who converted to Christianity and was beheaded for his faith at the age of fourteen, around the year 304. His name is Greek (Πανκράτιος Pankrátios), meaning 'all-powerful'.

How do these plans fit in with the UK government requirement for entry checking before boarding?  or is there a secret plan to join Schengen?

It found that expanded infrastructure and enhanced border security processes could increase capacity from 1 800 to around 2 400 passengers/h in the next three to four years. Redesigning the layout of the international area could see an increase of up to 5 000 passengers/h in the long term.

London St Pancras Highspeed and Getlink have signed an agreement that will help them to commit to expanding rail connectivity between the UK and Europe.

or is there a secret plan to join Schengen?

How do these plans fit in with the UK government requirement for entry checking before boarding?  or is there a secret plan to join Schengen?

I was more concerned with incoming trains as HM Government has wanted to perform immigration procedures on the continent to remove the possibility of arriving passengers who are denied entry claiming asylum.

Both the EU and the UK are moving towards the electronic type visa, so instead of queuing to have your Passport stamped provided you are registered for the visa your Passport and face is scanned at the departure points and the barrier opens and on you travel.

The e-visa has to be the future

The problem is not just passport checking but the need to scan all luggage. I use Eurostar 4 or 6 times a year and the security check always takes far longer than passport control. I wonder if these checks are really necessary. The Gotthard base tunnel is longer that the Channel tunnel and checks are not considered necessary for that.

Eurostar plans direct trains to Frankfurt and Geneva

Eurostar has said it plans to launch direct train services from London to Germany and Switzerland.

A fleet of up to 50 new trains, costing around €2bn (£1.7bn), is planned to be up and running by the early 2030s, the firm announced.

Travel time between London and Frankfurt will be about five hours, and around five hours and 20 minutes to Geneva.

But there are questions over the expansion as the firm needs to make sure it has enough space for more trains at its depot in east London.

Eurostar's boss said there was strong demand for train travel across Europe, despite the challenges of higher operational costs and inflation squeezing customer budgets.

"A new golden age of international sustainable travel is here," said chief executive Gwendoline Cazenave, adding that customers were "wanting to go further by rail than ever before".

The introduction of the new trains, which will replace some older ones, will lead to a 30% increase in trains that service London.

The firm is also planning for the proposed new fleet to service a direct line to Geneva from both Amsterdam and Brussels.

It said it was working with partners to get the new lines up and running.

It is not clear if the routes to Frankfurt and Geneva will include stops on the way for passengers to board or leave.

Railfuture comments on Eurostar announcement. Planning new trains to Germany and Switzerland:

It looks as if Eurostar has finally decided to expand. The Eurostar 50 new trains order has been around for a while but without stated commitment to run from Britain.

The "concentrate in the core, high fares" strategy is fine in the short run if you have no wider economic objectives but it has opened up a plethora of open access proposals.

Perhaps the most significant result is for Eurostar to realise that they are best placed to expand with less barriers to entry than new entrants. The key is to do this fast enough to keep new entrants at bay. The announcement to add new routes from London to Germany and Switzerland is strategically significant in this respect.

Open access has, in this way, already served a purpose without even running a train. In strategic terms this is good. Railfuture welcomes this development but makes it clear that this still leaves scope for more services and more competition, particularly on the existing Paris route and to the largest air market from Britain, after Paris and Amsterdam, i.e. Spain.

Also, sooner or later, someone will realise that there are other cities in Britain that have a huge air market, More people travel from Manchester to Paris than from London to any city in Switzerland.

Railfuture contends that the timing and the economics are right for sustainable rail travel from Britain as is the market appetite.

Railfuture's suggested choice of preferred open access routes.

This is ambitious for obvious reasons against the present situation but far less so in market terms. It also makes the presumption that the current preoccupation with immigration and security will be eased, with new technology and EU technology.

This proposes two strategic stops en route here, Stratford in long haul fast services to take about 30% volume to ease St Pancras, and Ashford for the Kent catchment area with its propensity to travel to Continental Europe.

Stratford or in some case, Lille would largely replace St Pancras as the interchange point from NW England.

Draft list of contenders.

Eurostar's proposals plus;
Paris route competition

    London, Stratford - Paris (fast)
    London, Ashford - Calais, Lille, Paris
    London, Ashford - Charles de Gaulle Airport, Disneyland Paris, Lyon. Delete Lyon, add Tours, Bordeaux
    Manchester, Crewe (Merseyside and North West hub), Rugby(West Midlands hub), Stratford - Lille, Paris (all with long platforms)


South of France and Spain route competition

    London, Stratford- Barcelona, Madrid (fast)
    London, Ashford - Lyon, Avignon, Marseille
    London, Ashford - Lyon, Montpellier, Perpignan, Barcelona. Delete Barcelona, possibly combined to Avignon


Add

    London, Ashford, Charles de Gaulle Airport, Disneyland, LeMans, Nantes, with multiple service stops to provide frequency to CdG and Disneyland.


London, Ashford- Germany route competition

    London, Stratford - Hannover, Berlin (fast)
    London, Stratford - Brussels, Koln, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Zurich, Milan


Belgium, Netherlands route competition

    Manchester, Crewe, Rugby, Stratford - Lille, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam


Nord Pas de Calais shuttle in cooperation on fares with SE High Speed and domestic Ashford - Calais, Lille

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Notes to editors:

Railfuture is the UK's leading independent organisation campaigning for better rail services for both passengers and freight.

Railfuture's website can be found at: www.railfuture.org.uk

Press release from Railfuture: