Service expansions planned for the Channel Tunnel connecting Britain and mainland Europe mean direct, long-distance trains could soon run between London and Germany.
London St Pancras Highspeed and the French company Getlink have signed a deal to expand direct train services between Britain and mainland Europe.
The UK and French rail companies own and operate the Channel Tunnel stretches in their respective countries. The new plan would revoke Eurostar’s monopoly over the tunnel, make services more regular and increase passenger capacity from 1.800 to 5.000 people per hour.
"Many European cities could be reached directly by train in under six hours which we believe is really competitive with short-haul air travel," a spokesperson from London St Pancras Highspeed told the BBC.
Eurostar trains connecting London with Paris, Lille, Brussels, Rotterdam and Amsterdam are currently the only routes using the Channel Tunnel.
Speaking to the broadcaster, Yann Lerich of Getlink explained that the company had set its sights on connecting London with Germany, Switzerland and France.
While no timeline has been set for when the new services would be up and running, Cologne, Frankfurt, Bordeaux, Marseille, Geneva and Zurich have already been named as more specific destinations.
Currently, passengers using indirect train services can travel from Frankfurt to London in six and a half hours or from Cologne to London in just over four hours.
Robert Sinclair of London St Pancras Highspeed pointed out that the demand for long-distance train travel continues to grow across Europe. 2023 and 2024 saw countless new routes announced, including Berlin to Rome, a new night train service connecting Berlin and Stockholm and direct services between Munich and Paris.
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