A certain disappointment was palpable in the discussions between the forty or so French, British and European journalists present on 14 December in Coquelles to celebrate 30 years of the Channel Tunnel. Everyone was hoping for the announcement of the name of at least one rail operator that would be linking London to the Old Continent in the near future. This could be an established rail company, a new private player, or even Getlink, the direct operator of Eurotunnel. " We're not going down that road, so we'll leave it to the candidates who have expressed an interest." said Getlink CEO Yann Leriche. Two players have so far opened the file: the British company Evolyn (Mobico/National Express) and Heuro, a private Dutch group. However, other operators could also get involved, provided they have a fleet of TGVs that can also run on different rail networks.
Counting on growth in long-distance passenger traffic, Eurotunnel has made their work easier by identifying the major European cities that could be easily linked to London. It has also worked with train manufacturers on tunnel and train standards, as well as on train paths and the possibility of creating secure terminals in stations. " This enabled us to reduce time to market from 10 to 5 years" , the entire launch process for an operator" explains Yann Leriche. In the past, this length of time and the mountain of challenges to be met would have prompted Deutsche Bahn to throw in the towel.
Germany and Switzerland as target markets
In terms of destinations, Eurotunnel has targeted towns connected to the high-speed network with significant air traffic with London. "At a journey time of 4 hours, the TGV will take a market share of 50% and increase its volume by 20%." says Getlink's Managing Director. Three rail routes, each with a potential of two million passengers a year, have been defined: London-Brussels-Cologne-Frankfurt, London-Paris-Basel-Zurich and London-Paris-Geneva. This will appeal to business travellers, with a centre-to-centre route and a carbon footprint 97% lower than air travel. Two hexagonal routes, to Lyon and Marseille on one side and Bordeaux on the otherare also identified for their traffic potential, mainly leisure traffic.
" Cologne had already been mentioned as a city eligible for cross-Channel links by François Mitterrand when the tunnel was inaugurated on 6 May 1994." says Yann Leriche. Eurostar appears as an ideal candidate to eventually launch into the German corridor. The Swiss authorities, who are very committed to the ecological transition, are pushing for the introduction of services to Geneva and Zurich.
In the meantime, Getlink is counting on the completion of work on theAmsterdam Centraal in 2025 to double the number of passengers on the London-Amsterdam route to two million. The opening of this route by Eurostar in 2018 received financial assistance of €9 million as part of the Etica programme (Eurotunnel Incentive for Capacity Additions) developed by Getlink, which has decided to release a further €50 million between now and 2030. Enough to accelerate the movement by supporting future rail operators at all levels. " We can therefore expect 17 million long-distance passengers to pass through the tunnel in ten years' time, compared with 11 million today. "predicts the CEO.
A tunnel with under-exploited capacity
As well as increasing its turnover and, above all, its profits, Getlink is encouraging new entrants, because the Channel Tunnel is clearly underused. Indeed, while the two 50 km tunnels are used by 400 trains a day (Shuttle, Shuttle Freight, Eurostar and freight trains) and up to 600 in high season, they could easily be used by more. see a thousand of them in circulation ! In other words, eight trains running in each direction at the same time. "Eurotunnel is preparing for an increase in traffic while maintaining the highest possible flow of traffic in the Tunnel, Yann Leriche. AI is used in particular" .
The group will also have to manage the implementation of the EED (Exit Entry System), additional biometric checks applicable from 2024 for non-EU nationals. They represent 70% of the group's customers, led by the British, since Brexit. Eurotunnel hopes that these procedures will not add more than 7 minutes to the journey time, and will therefore invest €78 million in the deployment of 200 terminals on both sides of the Channel.
