In the end, there will be no Deutsche Bahn (DB) ICE 3 trains in London as envisaged by the German rail company in 2013. However, DB is reviving its plans to link the British capital to Germany by signing a memorandum with Eurostar to launch London-Frankfurt and London-Cologne services in early 2030. " This project puts Britain at the heart of better connections with Europe and paves the way for more trade, tourism and investment. "British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was delighted.
With centre-to-centre links, in 4 hours to Cologne and 5 hours to Frankfurt, the potential is estimated at several million passengers a year thanks to tourism and business travellers. Enough to satisfy Gwendoline Cazenave, CEO of Eurostar, whose goal remains to carry 30 million passengers during the 2030 decade compared with almost 20 million in 2024. "We are looking forward to starting this partnership with DB. It's a great step towards offering more responsible and easy travel between London and Germany," she says.
A win-win partnership
The two services could be operated as a joint entity along the lines of Alleo, the company that has existed since 2007 between DB and SNCF, Eurostar's parent company, which currently manages the Paris-Frankfurt, Paris-Stuttgart-Munich, Marseille-Frankfurt and recent Paris-Berlin routes. According to Eurostar, Deutsche Bahn will bring its experience of operations on the German network to the deal, while Eurostar will bring its experience of operations on European and cross-Channel routes, as well as its future fleet of Celestia high-speed trains.
Eurostar to have 30 new TGVs by 2030
For a total of €2 billion, Eurostar has placed an order with Alstom for a first tranche of 30 new-generation TGVs, out of a hoped-for total of 50 trainsets. The special feature of these Eurostar trains is that, for the first time, they will be double-decker. They will be derived from the Avelia Horizon, the famous TGV of the future, the first examples of which the SNCF should finally be putting into service in 2026. With an increased capacity of 20% and 1080 seats, this TGV will generate energy savings of 20 to 50%. These savings are always worth taking to offset the high cost of the Channel Tunnel tolls and the High Speed 1 line between the Channel Tunnel and St Pancras station in London. According to the information released by Eurostar at the time of the agreement with Alstom, the first six trainsets will not be operational until May 2031, once the test phase has been completed. Thanks to this brand new fleet, Eurostar has other projects in the pipeline: a London-Geneva and a London-Berlin. The latter also with Deutsche Bahn?
