Put all the rhetoric to one side. In announcing today they are ordering 30 Alstom Avelia Horizon (TGV-M) double decker trains (see the FT here), with only options for 20 more, Eurostar is being less ambitious than has been rumoured for more than a year, where the talk was of […]
Read More• Belgium
Constraints on future Channel Tunnel operators
Sometime this autumn the UK’s Office of Rail and Road (ORR) will adjudicate on capacity allocation at Temple Mills depot in east London. Responses to ORR from Eurostar and the four other companies that seek to also enter the market for long distance trains through the Channel Tunnel can be […]
Read MoreGreen Signals podcast about rivals to Eurostar, and some further thoughts about the challengers
I was a guest this week on the Green Signals podcast about rivals to Eurostar and their chances of success. You can watch it here: You can likewise get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. Also – amazingly! – the comments on Youtube are mostly constructive. That is […]
Read MoreDeciphering the “Virgin Trains to order 12 Alstom trains for Channel Tunnel” stories
OK, we have three pieces of “news” to go on – a story from The Times, a Richard Branson column in The Times, and this from Rail Magazine – that Virgin Trains is to order 12 high speed trains from Alstom. The central point: Virgin Trains is one of three companies […]
Read MoreThe €2bn question: why has Eurostar still not ordered any new trains?
Is there space for a further Channel Tunnel operator at the Temple Mills depot off the HS1 line at Stratford? The issue rumbles on, with ORR expected to make a decision on the issue by this autumn according to The Times today. But what if the extra capacity at the […]
Read MorePreliminary conclusions from my #CrossChannelRail project
OK, I have to face it: I bit off more than I could chew. When I conducted the research for my #CrossChannelRail Project in March and April this year I thought I would be done with the report from the project by the end of May. And it is the […]
Read MoreLive Blog – #CrossChannelRail Day 14 – 30 March – Bruxelles – London
Jump to: Text updates | Summary videos | Latest photos | Today’s background | Today’s route The best way to follow #CrossBorderRail as the trip develops is on social mediaThere are always posts on Mastodon (@jon@gruene.social & #CrossChannelRail) Today’s live text updates Link to the archive of today’s […]
Read MoreLive Blog – #CrossChannelRail Day 12 – 28 March – Den Haag – Amsterdam – Bruxelles
Jump to: Text updates | Summary videos | Latest photos | Today’s background | Today’s route The best way to follow #CrossBorderRail as the trip develops is on social mediaThere are always posts on Mastodon (@jon@gruene.social & #CrossChannelRail) Today’s live text updates Link to the archive of today’s […]
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