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The Review ➔


Cross-channel rail poised for change ON THE GROUND


HIGH-SPEED, cross-channel rail travel is set for a facelift in the next few years as Deutsche Bahn confirms its plans to run services to the UK, while Eurostar lays out its ambitions to extend its network further afield and invest some £700million in its fleet. With the High-Speed 1 link from London St Pancras to the Channel Tunnel now open to operators other than Eurostar, Deutsche Bahn has signalled its firm intention to launch services to and from Germany. In October it ran one of its fleet of high-tech ICE trains to London for the first time and carried out evacuation exercises in the tunnel. “By making full use of the opportunities afforded by the liberalisation of the European rail market we are able to offer our customers genuine alternatives to air travel,” says Rudiger Grube, chairman of the DB management


order for ten new e320 trains, so named for their 320kph top speed, equal to that of DB’s ICE3 model. Eurostar ceo Nicholas Petrovil


board. DB has ordered 15 ICE3 trains with a top speed of 320kph at a cost of 500 million euros, with delivery from 2011. After the necessary authorisation


tests, the operator plans to deploy the fleet on three daily return journeys between Frankfurt and London via Cologne, Brussels and Lille, plus connections from Amsterdam via Rotterdam. The


journey time from London to Cologne is expected to be less than four hours and London to Frankfurt just over five hours. London to Amsterdam should also be in the region of four hours. Eurostar, meanwhile, is splashing


out £700 million on refurbishing its entire existing fleet with a design created by Italian stylists Pininfarina, and has also placed an


says the new trains will offer the “best level of style and comfort in Europe”, and will be 20 per cent bigger, with capacity for 900 passengers. The trains could also see the journey time between London and Paris reduced to under two hours, while new routes for the operator are now very much on the cards. Eurostar says it has made no decision on new routes as yet, though Petrovil says it is looking at strong airline routes. “We want a greater share of the


ten million people flying from London and the South East to Germany, Holland, Belgium and the South of France,” says Petrovil. Referring to the plans of Deutsche Bahn, he adds, “We’re not afraid of new entrants, we’ve been competing with airlines for years.”


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