Italian state railway group Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) on Tuesday revealed plans to launch a high-speed rail service between Paris and London by the Channel Tunnel.
The service, set to be launched by 2029, will problem Eurostar’s long-running monopoly on the route between the UK capital and mainland Europe.
FS mentioned that the undertaking, with an earmarked €1 billion, could be carried out in partnership with Spanish agency Evolyn, led by the Cosmen household.
Evolyn introduced again in 2023 that it needed to launch a service between Paris and London. The main points of its partnership with FS are usually not but finalised.
“This funding is a decisive step ahead in FS Group’s imaginative and prescient of constructing a extra built-in, aggressive and sustainable European rail community,” Stefano Antonio Donnarumma, FS Group CEO, mentioned in a press release.
“Excessive-speed rail networks are the spine of environment friendly and environmentally pleasant mobility, and by increasing our presence on key corridors, we’re not simply investing in infrastructure and innovation, but in addition in the way forward for European transport,” he added.
The hyperlink between London and Paris may very well be prolonged to companies through Lille, Ashford, Lyon, Marseilles and Milan, mentioned FS on Tuesday.
The announcement comes after Virgin Group, owned by billionaire Richard Branson, additionally made a bid to problem Eurostar’s monopoly final month.
Virgin Group informed the Monetary Instances that it intends to boost £700 million (€820mn) in debt to finance a excessive frequency service from London to Paris and Brussels, with plans to later prolong the path to Amsterdam.
The agency’s plans to run trains alongside these routes had been initially difficult by a spat over an east London rail depot, the one out there area to park high-speed cross-Channel trains.
After Eurostar claimed that it had used all out there spots, Evolyn and Virgin appealed to the UK’s rail regulator.
In its assertion launched on Tuesday, FS mentioned that it had acquired the inexperienced mild from the UK’s Workplace of Rail and Highway to make use of the Temple Mills depot.
FS added that it had obtained the required licenses and permits in France, and that it was working to extend capability at St. Pancras. It mentioned that the latter activity was “at a complicated stage”.
The Italian agency already runs a high-speed service between Milan and Paris, in addition to intercity trains inside France.
FS Group additionally has a longtime presence within the UK, the place it has been current because it acquired prepare operator c2c in 2017.
Alongside Virgin, FS, and Evolyn, companies Gemini Trains and Deutsche Bahn have expressed curiosity in accessing the Channel Tunnel route.
Critics of Eurostar’s monopoly argue that elevated competitors would deliver ticket costs down and enhance service high quality.
