15/01/2024 – By Frédéric de Kemmeter – Railway signalling and freelance copywriter – Suscribe my blog
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During a press visit in December 2023, Yann Leriche, CEO of the Franco-British group, detailed the growth opportunities the company saw. And that would include new high-speed links.
As we know, Eurotunnel is now a 100% subsidiary of Getlink, the parent company. The group’s activities include operating shuttle services between Calais and Folkestone, as well as managing international passenger traffic between London and mainland Europe.
The latter activity seems to be underperforming, and Getlink is keen to change that. At present, there is only one operator, Eurostar, and barely 4 freight trains make the crossing. The price of passage through the tunnel and safety regulations have been identified as obstacles to traffic growth. Things may be about to change.
Freed from the heavy debt burden of the early years and now profitable, Getlink has opened up an additional business with the Eleclink direct current line through the tunnel, boosting the group’s revenues and attracting investors.
Increasing rail traffic
Inaugurated in June 1994, the tunnel is the only fixed link between the continent and Great Britain. To date, the two-tube structure sees the passage of almost 400 trains a day, mainly road shuttles between Calais and Folkestone, but also high-speed trains to and from London. On next May 6, the tunnel celebrates its 30th anniversary, as well as the inauguration of the first LeShuttle and LeShuttle Freight rail services linking Folkestone (Kent) to Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais). In November, it will be the 30th anniversary of the first direct rail links between London, Paris and Brussels.
Getlink wants to modify the technical rules for passage through the tunnel to halve the approval time for new projects.
As explains Railway Gazette, this requires changes to the technical rules for tunnel passage, without of course compromising safety. These modifications have been made with the EU Agency for Railways, Établissement Public de la Sécurité Ferroviaire in France and the Office of Rail & Road in the UK. A number of changes are envisaged, like the requirement to run very long trains in order for part of the train to be adjacent to one of the cross-passages in the undersea running tunnels which are spaced at 375 m intervals. This obligation was dropped some time ago. Shorter trains should now be able to run in the tunnel.
These measures should enable Getlink to increase the number of trains to 1,000 trains a day, and not just by increasing the number of road shuttles. To achieve this, Eurotunnel is indeed looking for new destinations other than Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam.
New incomers?
The company is once again considering the creation of an express rail link between London and Cologne. The idea is even to eventually reach Frankfurt. For those who remember, in October 2010, a German ICE train arrived at London’s Saint Pancras International station. It was thought that DB had made up its mind, but problems with rolling stock certification and changes in the economic environment subsequently put the project on hold, and it no longer seems to be a priority for Deutsche Bahn.
Recently, the Spanish company Evolyn said it wanted to use the Channel Tunnel as early as 2026, and announced in October that it had ordered 12 trains from Alstom, although this was not confirmed by the French manufacturer.
The Dutch company Heuro has also indicated that it wishes to compete with the London-Amsterdam line, without giving further details. Other names of potential competitors have also circulated, like QBuzz (Trenitalia), but nothing concrete has been said to date.
Yann Leriche explained that Eurotunnel was working with the authorities to standardize tunnel regulations, and was continuing discussions with European rail operators. He pointed out that market studies had already been carried out, as well as studies on the work needed in stations and on routes. On this basis, he estimated the potential of the London-Cologne-Frankfurt line at two million passengers a year.🟧
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15/01/2024 – By Frédéric de Kemmeter – Railway signalling and freelance copywriter – Suscribe my blog
🟧 Back to homepage 🟧 See our brief news 🟧 UK 🟧 China 🟧 Japan 🟧 USA 🟧 the rest of the world
Austria – Baltic States – Czech Republic – Finland – France – Germany – Italy – Netherlands – Norway – Poland – Portugal – Republic of Ireland
– Slovakia – Spain – Sweden – Switzerland – Ukraine
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