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Eurostar has announced its intentions to launch direct train services linking the UK to Germany and Switzerland.
The operator heralded a "new golden age of international sustainable travel" as it revealed proposals to run trains between London St Pancras and both Frankfurt and Geneva, with services expected to begin in the "early 2030s".
The new routes would be served by a fleet of up to 50 new trains, at a cost of approximately two billion euros (£1.7 billion).
Journeys between London and Frankfurt are estimated to take about five hours.
Trips between London and Geneva would take approximately five hours and 20 minutes.
It has not been decided what stops the services would make – such as Cologne for trains to or from Frankfurt – and whether passengers would be able to get on and off en route.
Eurostar chief executive Gwendoline Cazenave said many passengers are prepared to take longer train journeys rather than flying as they “want to travel more sustainably”.
She expects there would be strong demand from leisure and business travellers for direct services to Frankfurt and Geneva, which she described as “big financial hubs”.
A number of hurdles must be overcome before services could launch, such as creating sufficient passenger space at those stations, installing new border checkpoints, and securing access to tracks.
Ms Cazenave acknowledged that opening new international train routes requires “time, investments, expertise, a huge amount of energy, and partnerships” but she has “no doubt” the new direct services will happen because of the “willingness” of Eurostar, passengers and governments.
The UK and Switzerland signed a memorandum of understanding last month aimed at establishing direct train services between the countries.
Eurostar will operate the new trains alongside its 17 existing e320s, bringing its total fleet to 67 trains, a 30 per cent increase on today.
Its new fleet will also enable it to boost existing routes, such as increasing its daily return frequencies between London and Paris from 17 to 20.
Meanwhile, the company confirmed it will add a fourth daily return service between St Pancras and Amsterdam from September 9, and a fifth from mid-December.
The operator’s London trains serve Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, and the French Alps during the ski season.
It also runs services within Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
It carried 19.5 million passengers last year, up 5 per cent from 18.6 million in 2023.
London-Paris was its strongest performing route in 2024, with 280,000 passengers.
That was followed by London-Brussels (250,000 passengers), Paris-Brussels (160,000 passengers) and Paris-the Netherlands (140,000 passengers).
Ms Cazenave said: “We’re seeing strong demand for train travel across Europe, with customers wanting to go further by rail than ever before and enjoy the unique experience we provide.
“Despite the challenging economic climate, Eurostar is growing and has bold ambitions for the future.
“Our new fleet will make new destinations for customers a reality – notably direct trains between London and Germany, and between London and Switzerland for the first time.
“A new golden age of international sustainable travel is here.”
A number of companies are developing plans to end Eurostar’s monopoly on operating passenger trains through the Channel Tunnel.
They include billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, Italy’s state-owned railway company FS Italiane Group, and Gemini Trains, which is chaired by Labour peer Lord Berkeley.
Eurostar achieved a 2.0 per cent increase in revenue to 2.0 billion euros last year, and recorded underlying earnings of 346 million euros (£292 million).
It said it refinanced its 963.7 million euros (£813.2 million) bank debt in 2024, reducing the amount to 650 million euros (£549 million) by the end of the year.
Eurostar is majority-owned by French state railway company SNCF.
The UK sold its stake in Eurostar to private companies for £757 million in 2015.
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