Gwendoline Cazenave, Eurostar's CEO, recently told us that the order for new high-speed trains was well underway. This has now been achieved with the signing of a first tranche of 30 trainsets with the manufacturer Alstom. Twenty more should follow to reach the target of a renewed fleet of 50 high-speed trains by 2030. A major innovation is that, for the first time at Eurostar, these higher-capacity trainsets will be double-decker, like our TGV Duplex and the future TGV M. Named Celestia, they will also be a derivative version of the latter, Alstom's Avelia Horizon, with the special feature of being interoperable so that they can run on the different rail networks used, particularly on the British side. Eurostar specifies that the overall investment amounts to two billion euros.
A fleet of 67 trains for the 2030s
After a period of testing, the first commercial services are now scheduled for May 2031, with 6 Eurostar Celestia trains available. These Avelia Horizon TGVs, which SNCF has been certifying for many months, have a lot going for them. They will reduce energy consumption from 20% to 50% while increasing the number of passengers carried by 20%, i.e. 1,080 seats in double formation. The 50 trains to be ordered will join the 17 Siemens e320 trainsets, currently the newest in the Eurostar fleet, as the company plans to dispose of its older TGVs. This new fleet will represent an overall increase in seating capacity of 30% compared with today.
A new travel experience for passengers
In addition to its capacity, this modern, technologically innovative fleet will enhance passenger comfort and the experience of travelling with Eurostar. In partnership with Alstom, Eurostar will begin work on the interior design of the trains. " Customers can look forward to a very special new train with Eurostar Celestia which will offer exceptional comfort, a unique Eurostar experience and new surprises to discover. "confirms Gwendoline Cazenave. This is enough to resist the arrival of competitors on its historic routes. Several players are fine-tuning their project, Trenitalia/Evolyn, Virgin Trains and Uber Trains/Gemini. It remains to be seen who will really dare to take up the challenge first?
A target of 30 million passengers after 2030
This mega order is of particular importance to Eurostar. It should enable the company to keep pace with the growth in its traffic, which it hopes to carry 30 million passengers after 2030, compared with 20 million this year (+5%/2024). To achieve this objective, Eurostar is already increasing the number of connections between London and Amsterdam, to 5 per day from 15 December. It then plans to increase passenger volumes between Paris and London by 2 million a year. Finally, Eurostar has already announced the launch of new routes thanks to this brand new fleet, from London to Geneva and Frankfurt, and even an Amsterdam-Geneva via Brussels. " These new Eurostar trains will meet the growing mobility needs of European travellers by offering more seats, more frequencies and more destinations. "says Alain Krakovitch, Chairman of Eurostar Group. And with a lower carbon footprint than by air.
