WikiPortallus: Eurostar.html

The service is operated by the eponymous eighteen-carriage Class 373 trains which run at up to 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph) on a network of high-speed lines. The LGV Nord line in France opened before Eurostar services began in 1994, and newer lines enabling faster journeys were added later — HSL 1 in Belgium and High Speed 1 in southern England. The French and Belgian parts of the network are shared with Paris–Brussels Thalys services and other TGV trains. In the United Kingdom the two-stage Channel Tunnel Rail Link project was completed on 14 November 2007 and renamed High Speed 1, when the London terminus of Eurostar transferred from Waterloo International to St Pancras International.

Eurostar is operated by the national railway companies of France and Belgium, SNCF and SNCB, and by Eurostar (UK) Ltd (EUKL), a subsidiary of London and Continental Railways (LCR), which also owns the high-speed infrastructure and stations on the British side. Eurostar has become the dominant operator in cross-channel intercity passenger travel on the routes that it operates, carrying more passengers than all airlines combined. Other operators have stated an interest in purchasing EUKL, or starting competing services following deregulation in 2010. On 1 January 2010, Eurostar was incorporated as a single corporate entity called "Eurostar International Ltd", replacing the joint operation between EUKL, SNCF and SNCB.¹

History

Conception and planning

The history of Eurostar can be traced to the 1986 choice of a rail tunnel to provide a cross-channel link between Britain and France.² A previous attempt at constructing a tunnel between the two nations had begun in 1974, but in January 1975 the project was cancelled by the British government over disagreements with the construction companies and spiralling costs during a difficult economic period.³ Ideas for such a tunnel underneath the English Channel had been proposed as early as 1802;⁴ the first serious attempt at building a tunnel, in 1881, was abandoned due to a hostile press seeing the tunnel as compromising Britain's natural defences against military attack.⁵ Eurotunnel was created to manage and own the tunnel, and TransManche Link created as the joint construction consortium to build the project.⁶ Construction of the physical tunnel began in 1988, and was finished five years later, in 1993, the official opening taking place in May 1994.⁷

In addition to the tunnel's shuttle trains carrying cars and lorries between Folkestone and Calais, the decision to construct a railway tunnel provided for through passenger and freight train services to places further afield.⁸ British Rail and SNCF contracted with Eurotunnel to use half the tunnel's capacity. In 1987 Britain, France and Belgium set up an International Project Group to specify a train providing an international high-speed service through the tunnel. France had been operating high-speed TGV services since 1981, and had begun construction of a new high-speed line between Paris and the Channel Tunnel, LGV Nord; TGV technology was chosen as the basis for the trains. An order for 30 trainsets was placed in December 1989.⁹ Testing of the new trains revealed problems on the 750V third-rail system in Kent.¹⁰ The trains were designed to shut down if causing electrical interference with signalling, and this happened frequently, but the problem was solved before services began. On 20 June 1993, the first Eurostar test train travelled through the tunnel to the UK.¹¹

Launch of service

On 14 November 1994 Eurostar services began between Waterloo International station in London, Gare du Nord in Paris and Brussels-South railway station in Brussels.⁸¹²¹³ In 1995 Eurostar was achieving an average end-to-end speed of 171.5 km/h (106.6 mph) between London and Paris.¹⁴ On 8 January 1996 Eurostar launched services from a second railway station in the UK when Ashford International was opened.¹⁵ Journey times between London and Brussels were reduced by the opening of HSL 1 on 14 December 1997.¹¹

On 23 September 2003 passenger services began running on the first completed section of High Speed 1.¹¹ Following a high-profile glamorous opening ceremony¹⁶ and a large advertising campaign,¹⁷ on 14 November 2007 Eurostar services in London transferred from Waterloo to the brand new St Pancras International.¹⁸

Records achieved

The Channel Tunnel used by Eurostar services holds the record for having the longest undersea section anywhere in the world,¹⁹ as well as being the second longest tunnel in the world.²⁰ A Eurostar train set a new British speed record of 334.7 km/h (208.0 mph) on the first section of High Speed 1 on 30 July 2003,¹¹¹² two months before services began running upon the first section of High Speed 1.

On 16 May 2006 Eurostar set a new record for the longest non-stop high-speed journey, a distance of 1,421 kilometres (883 mi) from London to Cannes taking 7 hours 25 minutes.²¹ On 4 September 2007 a record-breaking train left Paris Gare du Nord at 10:44 (09:44 BST) and reached London St Pancras in 2 hours 3 minutes 39 seconds;²² carrying journalists and railway workers, the train was the first passenger-carrying arrival at St Pancras International station.²³ On 20 September 2007, Eurostar broke another record as it completed the journey from Brussels to London in 1 hour, 43 minutes.²⁴

Regional Eurostar and Nightstar

The original proposals for Eurostar included direct services to Paris and Brussels from cities north of London (NoL): Manchester via Birmingham on the West Coast Main Line and Glasgow via Edinburgh, Newcastle and York on the East Coast Main Line.²⁵ Seven shorter NoL Eurostar trains for these Regional Eurostar services were built, but these services never ran. Perhaps predicted journey times of almost nine hours for Glasgow to Paris at the time of growth of low-cost air travel during the 1990s made the plans commercially unviable against the cheaper and quicker airlines.²⁶ Other reasons that have been suggested for these services having never been run were both government policies and the disruptive privatisation of British Rail.²⁷ Three of the Regional Eurostar units were leased by Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) to increase domestic services from London King's Cross to York and later Leeds.²⁸ The leases ended in December 2005, and most of the NoL sets have since been transferred to SNCF for TGV services in northern France.²⁹

An international Nightstar sleeper train was also planned; this would have travelled the same routes as Regional Eurostar, plus the Great Western Main Line to Cardiff.³⁰ These were also deemed commercially unviable, and the scheme was abandoned with no services ever operated. In 2000 the coaches were sold to Via Rail in Canada.³¹³²

Ashford International station

Ashford International station was the original station for Eurostar services in Kent.³³ Once Ebbsfleet International railway station, also designed to serve the Kent region, had opened, only three trains a day to Paris and one to Disneyland Paris called at Ashford for a considerable amount of time. There were fears that services at Ashford International might be further reduced or withdrawn altogether as Eurostar planned to make Ebbsfleet the new regional hub instead.³⁴³⁵ However, after a period during which no Brussels trains served the station,³⁶ to the dissatisfaction of the local communities,³⁷³⁸³⁹ on 23 February 2009 Eurostar re-introduced a single daily Ashford to Brussels service.⁴⁰⁴¹ Some critics have remained sceptical, as very few ticket distributors sell tickets either coming from or going to Ashford International.⁴²

Mainline routes

LGV Nord

LGV Nord is a French 333-kilometre (207 mi)-long high-speed rail line that connects Paris to the Belgian border and the Channel Tunnel via Lille. It opened in 1993.⁴³ Its extensions to Belgium and towards Paris, as well as connecting to the Channel Tunnel, have made LGV Nord a part of every Eurostar journey undertaken. A Belgian high-speed line, HSL 1, was added to the end of LGV Nord, at the Belgian border, in 1997. Of all French high-speed lines, LGV Nord sees the widest variety of high-speed rolling stock and is quite busy; a proposed cutoff bypassing Lille, which would reduce Eurostar journey times to Paris, is called LGV Picardie.

Channel Tunnel

The Channel Tunnel is a crucial part of the route; it is the only means by which Eurostar trains can travel between Great Britain and the European mainland. It links with LGV Nord in France and High Speed One in Britain. Tunnelling commenced in 1988, and the 50.5-kilometre (31.4 mi) tunnel was officially opened by British Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand in a ceremony held in Calais on 6 May 1994.⁷ It is owned by Eurotunnel, which charges a significant toll to Eurostar for its use.⁴⁴ In 1996 the American Society of Civil Engineers identified the tunnel as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.⁴⁵ Along the current route of the Eurostar service, line speeds are 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph) except within the channel tunnel, where a reduced speed of 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph) applies for safety reasons.⁴⁶⁴⁷ Since the launch of Eurostar services, severe disruptions and cancellations have been caused by fires breaking out within the Channel Tunnel, such as the 1996 Channel Tunnel fire,⁴⁸ the relatively minor 2006 Channel Tunnel fire,⁴⁹ and the 2008 Channel Tunnel fire.⁵⁰

HSL 1

Journey times between London and Brussels were improved when an 88-kilometre (55 mi) Belgian high-speed line, HSL 1, opened on 14 December 1997.⁵¹⁵² It links in with LGV Nord on the border with France, allowing Eurostar trains heading to Brussels to make the transition between the two without having to reduce speed. A further four-minute improvement for London-Brussels trains was achieved in December 2006 with the opening of the 435-metre (1,427 ft) Brussels South Viaduct.⁵³ Linking the international platforms of Brussels-South railway station with the high-speed line, the viaduct separates Eurostar (and Thalys) from local services.

High Speed 1

High Speed 1 (HS1), formerly known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a 108-kilometre (67 mi) high-speed railway line running from London through Kent to the British end of the Channel Tunnel.⁵⁴⁵⁵ It was built in two stages. The first section between the tunnel and Fawkham Junction in north Kent opened in September 2003, cutting London–Paris journey times by 21 minutes to 2 hours 35 minutes, and London-Brussels to 2 hours 20 minutes. On 14 November 2007, commercial services began over the whole of the new HS1 line. The redeveloped St Pancras International station became the new London terminus for all Eurostar services.⁵⁶ The completion of High Speed 1 has brought the British part of Eurostar's route up to the same standards as the French and Belgian high-speed lines. Non-stop journey times have been reduced by a further 20 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes for London-Paris and 1 hour 51 minutes for London-Brussels.⁵⁷⁵⁸

Services

Frequency

Eurostar offers seventeen weekday London–Paris services (twenty on Fridays) including six non-stop (eight on Fridays), and eleven London– – Brussels services including three running non-stop.⁵⁹⁶⁰ In addition, there is one daily round-trip London–Disneyland Paris and two seasonal services: from July to September there is a weekly London–Ashford–Avignon service,⁶¹ and in the winter twice-weekly "snow trains", aimed at skiers, to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Aime-la-Plagne and Moutiers in the Alps; one runs overnight and the other is a daytime round-trip.⁶² Intermediate stations are Ebbsfleet International in northwest Kent, Ashford International in southeast Kent, and Calais-Fréthun and Lille-Europe in northern France.⁶³

Since 14 November 2007, all Eurostar trains have been routed via High Speed 1 to or from the redeveloped London terminus at St Pancras International; at a cost of £800 million it was extensively rebuilt and extended to cope with 394-metre (431 yd) long Eurostar trains.¹⁸⁶⁴⁶⁵ It had originally been intended to retain some Eurostar services at Waterloo International terminal, but this was ruled out on cost grounds.⁶⁶ Completion of High Speed 1 has increased the potential number of trains serving London. However, the main bottleneck to intercontinental traffic has remained the Channel Tunnel.⁶⁷ Separation of Eurostar from British domestic services through Kent meant that timetabling was no longer affected by peak-hour restrictions.

Fares

Eurostar's fares were significantly higher in its early years; the cheapest fare in 1994 was £99 return.⁶⁸ In 2002, Eurostar was planning cheaper fares, an example of which was an offer of £50 day returns from London to Paris or Brussels.⁶⁹⁷⁰ By March 2003, the cheapest fare from the UK was £59 return, available all year around.⁶⁸ In June 2009 it was announced that one-way single fares would be available at £31 at the cheapest.⁷⁰ Competition between Eurostar and airline services was a large factor in ticket prices being reduced from the initial levels.⁷¹⁷² Business Premier fares also slightly undercut air fares on similar routes, targeted at regular business travellers.⁷³ In 2009, Eurostar greatly increased its budget ticket availability to help maintain and grow its dominant market share.⁷⁴ The Eurostar ticketing system is very complex, being distributed through no fewer than 48 individual sales systems.⁷⁵ Eurostar is a member of the Amadeus CRS distribution system, making its tickets available alongside those of airlines worldwide.⁷⁶

First class on Eurostar is called Business Premier; perks include guaranteed faster checking-in and meals being personally served at the seat of your choice, as well as the improved furnishings and interior of Business Premier carriages.⁷⁷ The rebranding is part of Eurostar's marketing drive to attract more business professionals.⁷⁸ Increasingly, business people in a group have been chartering private carriages as opposed to individual seats on the train.⁷⁹

Service connections

Without the operation of Regional Eurostar services using the North of London trainsets across the rest of Britain, Eurostar has developed its connections with other transport services instead, such as integrating effectively with traditional UK rail operators' schedules and routes, making it possible for passengers to easily use Eurostar as a quick connection to further destinations on the continent.⁸⁰ All three main terminals used by the Eurostar service – St Pancras International, Paris Gare du Nord, and Brussels Midi/Zuid – are heavily served by domestic trains and by local urban transport networks such as the London Underground and the Paris Metro. Standard Eurostar tickets include several free connections, such as between the terminal for Eurostar services at Brussels Midi/Zuid and any other station in Belgium.⁸¹

Eurostar has announced several partnerships with other rail services,⁸² most notably Thalys connections at Lille and Brussels for passengers to go further than current Eurostar routes, such as to the Netherlands and Germany.⁸³ In 2002, Eurostar initiated the Eurostar-Plus program, offering connecting tickets for onward journeys from Lille and Paris to dozens of destinations in France.⁶⁹ Through fares are also available from 68 British towns and cities to destinations in France and Belgium.⁸⁴ In May 2009 Eurostar announced that a formal connection to Switzerland had been established in a partnership between Eurostar and Lyria, which operates TGVs from Paris to Switzerland.⁸⁵⁸⁶

Controls and security

Because the UK is not part of the Schengen Agreement,⁸⁷ all Eurostar passengers must submit to border and luggage controls. Both the British Government and the Schengen governments concerned (Belgium and France) have legal obligations to check the travel documents of those entering their respective countries. Eurostar passengers travelling inside the Schengen area (mainly from Brussels to Lille) are also checked by UK Border Agency within Belgian territory, since there is no way of separating them out from Brussels–London passengers. When the tripartite agreements were signed, the Belgian Government said that it had serious questions about the compatibility of this agreement with the Schengen Convention and the principle of free movement of people enshrined in various European Treaties.⁸⁸ On 30 June 2009 Eurostar raised concerns at the Commons Home Affairs select committee that it was illegal under French law for the collection of information desired by the UK government under the e-Borders scheme, and they would be unable to cooperate.⁸⁹⁹⁰

On several occasions, people have illegally tried to stow away onboard the train,⁹¹⁹² sometimes in large groups,⁹³ trying to enter the UK; hence border monitoring and security is extremely tight.⁹⁴ Eurostar claims to have good and well-funded security measures.⁹⁵ In comparison to security at airports, security at Eurostar is less time-consuming for the passenger.⁹⁶

Operational performance

Eurostar's punctuality has fluctuated from year to year, but usually remains over 90%;⁹⁷ in the first quarter of 1999, 89% of services operated were on time, and in the second quarter it reached 92%.⁹⁸ Eurostar's best punctuality record was 97.35%, set between 16 and 22 August 2004.¹¹ In 2006, it was 92.7%,⁹⁹ and in 2007, 91.5% were on time.¹⁰⁰¹⁰¹ In the first quarter of 2009, 96% of Eurostar services were punctual compared with rival air routes' 76%.¹⁰²

An advantage held by Eurostar is the convenience and speed of the service; with quicker boarding⁹⁶¹⁰³ and high punctuality, it takes less time to get between central London and central Paris by high-speed rail than it does by air. Eurostar now has a dominant share of the combined rail–air market on its three-capitals routes. In 2004, it had a 66% share of the London–Paris market, and a 59% share of the London–Brussels market.¹⁰⁴ In 2007, it achieved record market shares of 71% for London–Paris and 65% for London–Brussels routes.¹⁰⁵

Eurostar's passenger numbers initially failed to meet predictions. In 1996, London and Continental Railways forecast numbers would reach 21.4 million annually by 2004,¹⁰⁶ but only 7.3 million was achieved. 82 million passengers used Waterloo International Station from its opening in 1994 to its closure in 2007.¹² 2008 was a record year for Eurostar with a 10.3% rise in passenger use,¹⁰⁷ which was attributed to the use of High Speed 1 and the move to St Pancras.¹⁰⁸ The following year, Eurostar saw an 11.5% fall in passenger numbers¹⁰⁹ during the first three months of 2009, which was attributed to the 2008 Channel Tunnel fire⁵⁰ and the 2009 recession.¹¹⁰ As a result of the poor economic conditions, Eurostar received state aid in May 2009 to cancel out some of the accumulated debt from the High Speed 1 construction program.¹¹¹

In 2006, the Department for Transport predicted that, by 2037, annual cross-channel passenger numbers would probably reach 16 million,¹¹² considerably less optimistic than London and Continental Railways's original 1996 forecast.¹⁰⁶ In 2007 Eurostar set a target of carrying 10 million passengers by 2010.¹¹³ The company cited several factors to support this objective, such as improved journey times, punctuality and station facilities. Passengers in general, it states, are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental effects of air travel, and Eurostar services in comparison emit much less carbon dioxide.¹¹⁴ and that its remaining carbon emissions are now offset, making its services carbon neutral.¹¹⁵¹¹⁶ Continued expansion of the high-speed rail network in Europe, such as the HSL-Zuid line between Belgium and the Netherlands, continues to bring more destinations within rail-competitive range, giving Eurostar the possibility of opening up new services in future.

Awards and accolades

Eurostar has been hailed as having set new standards in international rail travel and has won praise several times over, recognising its high standards.¹¹⁹¹²⁰¹²¹ Eurostar won the Train Operator of the Year award in the HSBC Rail Awards for 2005.⁸² Eurostar was declared the Best Train Company in the joint Guardian/Observer Travel Awards 2008.¹²² However, Eurostar had previously struggled with its reputation and brand image. One commentator defined the situation at the time as:¹²³

By 2008, Eurostar's environmental credentials had become highly developed and promoted.¹²⁴ In 2006 Eurostar's Environment Group was set up,¹²⁵ with the aim of making changes in the Eurostar services' daily running to decrease the environmental impact, the organisation setting itself a target of reducing carbon emissions per passenger journey by 25% by 2012.¹²⁶ Drivers are trained in techniques to achieve maximum energy efficiency, and lighting has been minimised; the provider of the bulk of the energy for the Channel Tunnel has been switched to nuclear power stations in France.¹²⁶ Eurostar's current target is to reduce emissions by 35 percent per passenger journey by 2012, putting itself beyond the efforts of other railway companies in this field and thereby winning the 2007 Network Rail Efficiency Award.¹²⁵ In the grand opening ceremony of St Pancras International, one of the Eurostar trains was given the name 'Tread Lightly', said to symbolise their smaller impact on the environment compared to planes.¹²⁷

Organisation

Eurostar services are unified under a management called the Eurostar Group¹²⁸ formed in 1999.¹¹ In each country, a different company undertakes Eurostar local operations. In Belgium this is done by the national railway company NMBS/SNCB, similarly in France by the state-owned rail operator SNCF; however, in the United Kingdom ownership of this portion of the Eurostar Group, known as Eurostar (UK) Ltd (EUKL), is more complex and relatively in a state of flux. EUKL is owned by London and Continental Railways (LCR) and managed under contract by InterCapital and Regional Rail (ICRR), which in turn is a consortium of National Express Group, SNCF, NMBS/SNCB, and British Airways.

Eurostar is a member of Railteam, a marketing alliance formed in July 2007 of seven European high-speed rail operators, including Thalys.¹³⁰ The alliance plans to allow tickets to be booked from one end of Europe to the other on a single website.¹³⁰ In June 2009 London and Continental Railways, and the Eurostar UK operations they held ownership of, became fully nationalised by the UK government.¹³¹

Rolling stock

Current fleet

Built between 1992 and 1996, Eurostar's fleet consists of 38 electric multiple unit trains, designated Class 373 in the United Kingdom and TGV373000 in France. There are two variants:

The trains are essentially modified TGV sets,¹³³¹³⁴ and can operate at up to 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph) on high-speed lines, and 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph) in the Channel Tunnel.⁴⁶⁴⁷ It is possible to exceed the 300-kilometre-per-hour speed limit, but only with special permission from the safety authorities in the respective country.¹³⁵ Speed limits in the Channel Tunnel are dictated by air-resistance, energy (heat) dissipation and the need to fit in with other, slower trains. The trains were designed with Channel Tunnel safety in mind, and consist of two independent "half-sets" each with its own power car.²⁹⁴⁷ In the event of a serious fire on board while travelling through the tunnel, passengers would be transferred into the undamaged half of the train, which would then be detached and driven out of the tunnel to safety.¹³⁶ If the undamaged part were the rear half of the train, this would be driven by the Chef du Train, who is a fully authorised driver and occupies the rear driving cab while the train travels through the tunnel for this purpose.¹³⁷

As 27 of the 31 Three Capitals sets are sufficient to operate the service, four are currently used by SNCF for domestic TGV services; one of these regularly operates a Paris–Lille shuttle. The Eurostar logos have been removed from these sets, but the base colours of white, black, and yellow remain. SNCF's lease of the sets is scheduled to last until 2011, with an option for a further two years.¹³⁸

In addition to its Class 373 units, Eurostar operates a single Class 08 diesel shunter as the pilot at Temple Mills depot.¹³⁹

Fleet updates

In 2004–2005 the "Three Capitals" sets still in daily use for international services were refurbished with a new interior designed by Philippe Starck.¹¹¹⁴⁰ The original grey-yellow scheme in Standard class and grey-red of First/Premium First were replaced with a grey-brown look in Standard and grey-burnt-orange in First class. Power points were added to seats in First class and coaches 5 and 14 in Standard class. Premium First class was renamed BusinessPremier.

In 2008, Eurostar announced that it would be carrying out a mid-life update of its Class 373 trains to allow the fleet to remain in service beyond 2020.¹⁴¹ This process will include the 28 units making up the Eurostar fleet, but not the three Class 373/1 units used by SNCF or the Class 373/2 "North of London" sets.¹⁴² As part of the update process, the Italian company Pininfarina has been contracted to redesign the interiors,¹⁴³ and The Yard Creative was selected to design the new buffet cars.¹⁴⁴ On 11 May 2009 Eurostar revealed the new look for its First Class compartments.¹⁴⁵ The first refurbished train is due in service in 2012,¹⁴⁶ and Eurostar plans to have completed the entire process by 2014.

Past fleet

Future fleet

In addition to the announced mid-life update of the existing Class 373 fleet, Eurostar in 2009 reportedly entered prequalification bids for eight new trainsets to be purchased.¹⁵¹ Any new trains would need to meet the same safety rules governing passage through the Channel Tunnel as the existing Class 373 fleet. Any replacement to the Class 373 trains would be decided joinly between the French Transport Ministry and the UK Department of Transport, current expectations place 2025 as the earliest forecast date for the fleet renewal;¹⁵² it is highly likely that the new trains would be equipped to use the new ERTMS incab signalling system, which is due to be fitted to High Speed 1 around 2040.¹⁵²

Accidents and incidents

A number of technical incidents have affected Eurostar services over the years, but up to the present there has only been one major accident involving a service operated by Eurostar, a derailment in June 2000. Other incidents in the Channel Tunnel — such as the 1996 and 2008 Channel Tunnel fires — have affected Eurostar services but were not directly related Eurostar's operations. However, the breakdowns in the tunnel, which resulted in cessation of service and inconvenience to thousands of passengers, in the run-up to Christmas 2009, proved a PR disaster.¹⁵³

Minor incidents

There have been several minor incidents with a few Eurostar services. In October 1994 there were teething problems relating to the start of operations. The first preview train, carrying 400 members of the press and media, was delayed for two hours by technical problems.¹⁰¹⁵⁴¹⁵⁵¹⁵⁶ On 29 May 2002 a Eurostar train was initially sent down a wrong line — towards London Victoria railway station instead of London Waterloo — causing the service to arrive 25 minutes late. A signalling error that led to the incorrect routeing was stated to have caused "no risk" as a result.¹⁵⁷

On 11 April 2006, a house collapsed next to a railway line near London which caused Eurostar services to have to terminate and start from Ashford International instead of London Waterloo. Passengers waiting at Waterloo International were initially directed onto local trains towards Ashford leaving from the adjacent Waterloo East railway station, until overcrowding occurred at Ashford.¹⁵⁸

1996

Approximately 1000 passengers were trapped in darkness for several hours inside two Eurostar trains on the night of 19/20 February 1996. The trains stopped inside the tunnels due to electronic failures caused by snow and ice. Questions were raised at the time about the ability of the train and tunnel electronics to withstand the mix of snow, salt and ice which collect in the tunnels during periods of extreme cold.¹⁵⁹

2000

On 5 June 2000 a Eurostar train travelling from Paris to London derailed on the LGV Nord high-speed line while traveling at 290 km/h (180 mph). Fourteen people were treated for light injuries or shock, with no fatalities or major injuries. The articulated nature of the trainset was credited with maintaining stability during the incident and all of the train stayed upright.¹⁶⁰ The incident was caused by a traction link on the second bogie of the front power car coming loose, leading to components of the transmission system on that bogie impacting the track.¹⁵⁴

2009

On 23 September 2009 an overhead power line dropped onto a Class 373 train arriving at St Pancras station, activating a circuit breaker and delaying eleven other trains.¹⁶¹ Two days later, on 25 September 2009, electrical power via the overhead lines was lost on a section of high-speed line outside Lille delaying passengers on two evening Eurostar-operated services.¹⁶²

During the December 2009 European snowfall, four Eurostar trains broke down inside the Channel Tunnel, after leaving France, and one in Kent on 18 December. Although the trains had been winterised, the systems had not coped with the conditions.¹⁶³ Over 2,000 passengers were stuck inside failed trains inside the tunnel, and over 75,000 had their services disrupted.¹⁶⁴ All Eurostar services were cancelled from Saturday 19 December to Monday 21 December 2009.¹⁶⁵ An independent review, published on 12 February 2010, was critical of the contingency plans in place for assisting passengers stranded by the delays, calling them "insufficient".¹⁶⁶¹⁶⁷

2010

On 7 January 2010 a Brussels-London train broke down in the Channel Tunnel,¹⁶⁸ resulting in three other trains failing to complete their journeys.¹⁶⁹ The cause of the failure was the onboard signalling system.¹⁷⁰ Due to the severe weather a limited service was operated in the next few days.¹⁷¹¹⁷²

On 15 February 2010, services between Brussels and London were interrupted following the Halle train collision, this time after the dedicated HSL 1 lines in the suburbs of the Belgian capital were blocked by debris from a serious train crash on the suburban commuter lines alongside. No efforts were made to reroute trains around the blockage, Eurostar instead terminated services to Brussels services at Lille, directing passengers to continue their journey on local trains. Brussels services resumed on a limited scale on 22 February. It was subsequently suggested that electrical disturbances caused by HSTs disrupted signalling causing the crash.¹⁷³

On 21 February 2010 the 2143 service from Paris Gare du Nord to London St Pancras broke down just outside Ashford International¹⁷⁴ stranding 740 passengers for several hours whilst a rescue train was called in.

Future developments

A number of possible future developments affecting the Eurostar service have been brought forward and some planned to go ahead:

Stratford International station

The original intended purpose of Stratford International station was to act as the London stop for regional Eurostar trains bypassing St Pancras and continuing to other destinations in England and Scotland. However, this plan is under review¹⁷⁵ and it remains uncertain whether international trains will call at the station.¹⁷⁶ Eurostar has not announced any plans for services to call at Stratford, and there is no mention of international services from the station on the High Speed 1 website;¹⁷⁷ but it is expected that Eurostar trains will call there after the Docklands Light Railway extension to Stratford International opens in mid-2010.¹⁷⁸ The station will see greater use during the 2012 Olympic Games when the Olympic Javelin service comes into operation.¹⁷⁹

Regional Eurostar

Although the original plan for Regional Eurostar services to destinations north of London was abandoned,²⁷ the significantly improved journey times now available following the opening of High Speed 1 — which has connections to both the East Coast Main Line and the North London Line (for the West Coast Main Line) at St Pancras — and recently increased maximum speeds on the West Coast Main Line, may make potential Regional Eurostar services more viable. This would be even more likely if proposals are adopted for a new high-speed line from London to the north of Britain.¹⁸⁰ Simon Montague, Eurostar's Director of Communications, commented that: "...International services to the regions are only likely once High Speed 2 is built."¹⁸¹

Key pieces of infrastructure still belong to LCR via its subsidiary London & Continental Stations and Property, such as the Manchester International Depot, and Eurostar (UK) still owns several track access rights and the rights to paths on both the East Coast and West Coast Main Lines.¹⁸²¹⁸³ While no announcement has been made of plans to start Regional Eurostar services, it remains a possibility for the future. In the meantime, the closest equivalent to Regional Eurostar services are same-station connections with East Midlands Trains, changing at St Pancras. The planned renovation of the adjacent King's Cross will see a new concourse built to improve interchange with St Pancras,¹⁸⁴ giving East Coast, First Capital Connect (Great Northern services), First Hull Trains and Grand Central services better connections with Eurostar.

High Speed 2

Eurostar has already been involved in reviewing and publishing reports into High Speed 2 for the British Goverrnment,¹⁸⁵ and looks favourably upon such an undertaking. The operation of Regional Eurostar services will not be considered until such time as High Speed 2 has been completed.¹⁸¹ Alternatively future loans of the North of London sets to other operators would then be able use the trains at full capacity, unlike GNER's previous loan between 2000 and 2005, which had been limited to 175 km/h (109 mph) on regular track. A separate company called High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd¹⁸⁶ has been set up to investigate the feasibility and viability of a new line likely serving a similar route to the West Coast Main Line.¹⁸⁷

LGV Picardie

LGV Picardie is a proposed high-speed line running between Paris and Calais, via Amiens. By cutting off the corner of the LGV Nord at Lille, it would enable Eurostar trains to save 20 minutes on the journey between Paris and Calais, bringing the London-Paris journey time under 2 hours. In 2008 the French Government announced its future investment plans for new LGVs to be built up to 2020; LGV Picardie was not included but was listed as planned in the longer term.¹⁸⁸

New destinations

The reduced journey times offered by the opening of High Speed 1⁵⁷ and the opening of the LGV Est and HSL-Zuid bring more continental destinations¹⁹⁰ within a range from London where rail is competitive with air travel. By Eurostar's estimates a train would then take 3 hours 30 minutes from London to Amsterdam.¹⁹¹ At present Eurostar is concentrating on developing its connections with other services,⁸²⁸³ but direct services to other destinations would be possible. However, the routes that any potential services are likely to take would go off the infrastructure that Eurostar's rolling stock has been built to use — Germany operates trains at 15kV AC,¹⁹² while the Netherlands uses 1.5kV DC (except on HSL Zuid).¹⁹³ To operate on these lines would require new or heavily modified rolling stock designed to operate at these different voltages, in addition to those already in use. Signalling systems also differ.⁵⁴¹⁹⁴ In addition to the infrastructure difficulties, any potential Eurostar services beyond Paris and Brussels would also require the installation of stringent security measures, due to the UK's not having signed up to the Schengen Agreement,⁸⁷ which allows unrestricted movement across borders of member countries.

The difficulties that Eurostar faces in expanding its services would also be faced by any potential competitors to Eurostar. As the UK is outside the Schengen Agreement, London-bound trains must use platforms that are physically isolated,¹³⁶ a constraint which other international operators such as Thalys do not face. In addition, the British authorities are required to make security and passport checks prior to boarding the train,¹⁹⁵ which might deter domestic passengers. Compounding the difficulties in providing a similar service, the Channel Tunnel safety rules stipulate that passenger trains have to be able to split in the case of emergency.⁴⁷ Class 373 trains were designed as two half-sets, which when coupled form a complete train, enabling them to be split easily in the event of an emergency while in the Channel Tunnel, with the unaffected set able to be driven out. There have been calls for a relaxation of these rules,¹⁹⁶ but until such time as they are changed, any new operator would require similar rolling stock to Eurostar's fleet.

On 13 October 2009 the President of SNCF, Guillaume Pepy, outlined plans to expand TGV services around Paris as well as for fleet renewal. A plan to connect LGV Nord, the line used by Eurostar into Paris, with La Defense, an area of western Paris known as a centre for international commerce, was described as the "top priority". Pepy estimated that the connection (which would also allow interchange to the proposed Paris - Rouen - Le Havre LGV line) would allow a journey time from central London to La Defense of 2hrs 15mins.¹⁹⁷ Guillaume Pepy defined SNCF's priorities for the future as:¹⁹⁷

At the same time as Guillaume Pepy's announcement, Richard Brown announced that Eurostar's plans for expanding its network potentially included Amsterdam and Rotterdam as destinations, using the HSL Zuid line. However, this would require either equipment upgrades of the existing fleet, or a new fleet equipped for both ERTMS and the domestic signalling systems used by Nederlandse Spoorwegen.¹⁹⁸ Following the December 2009 opening of HSL Zuid, a London-Amsterdam journey is estimated to take 4hrs 16mins.¹⁹⁹

Competition

In 2010 the European Union's liberalisation of international rail travel is taking place, breaking previous monopolies in order to encourage competition for services between countries.²⁰⁰²⁰¹ This has sparked interest among other companies in providing services in competition to Eurostar's and new services to destinations beyond Paris and Brussels. The only rail carrier to formally propose and get permission for such a service is currently Deutsche Bahn, which intends to run services between London and Germany. The sale of High Speed One by the British Government having effectively nationalised LCR in June 2009 is also likely to stimulate competition upon the line.²⁰²

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