Spanish operator Renfe has confirmed its intention to launch a high-speed London-Paris service, to rival those currently operated by Eurostar.
Renfe claims to have already studied the market on a route which served some nine million people per year prior to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Of that market, seven million passengers were carried by Eurostar, which links the French and British capitals with journey times of two hours and 15 minutes via the Channel Tunnel and HS1.
A Renfe spokesman said: “Renfe wants to operate on the Paris-London high-speed line through the Channel Tunnel and has already started initial contacts to compete with Eurostar.
“At the moment, there are available paths and capacity to operate the high-speed line. This high-speed route was of high traffic and was growing until COVID-19, a trend that is expected to recover next year. According to the demand analysis carried out, it would be viable and profitable for Renfe to compete with Eurostar.”
Renfe has not provided a target date for commencing services, but it confirmed to RAIL that it hopes to operate at least seven of its own trains, which would first require approval for use through the Channel Tunnel.
To read the full story, see RAIL 944
Comment as guest
Comments
Peter Lamswood - 15/11/2021 20:43
Why not run a London - Madrid or Barcelona service instead?
Reply as guest
Güntürk Üstün - 15/11/2021 22:31
As Spain's national and historic train operator, Renfe is a powerful and persistent rival that has to be taken very solemnly in high-speed rail services, primarily for the french rail giant SNCF (which also owns the main stake in Eurostar) and other railway goliaths in the Old Continent (i.e. DB, Trenitalia). Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Reply as guest
Stefan LeAlston - 19/11/2021 01:29
(i bet) A spokesman for Eurostar said 'Je Proteste', just like when the German and the Dutch tried to run through the tunnel.
Reply as guest
Güntürk Üstün - 19/11/2021 18:49
Rail industry experts are already speculating that Renfe's ambitious move could open up future long distance services between the UK and Spain, with Madrid and Barcelona cited as possible destinations. Starting with seven trains of its own fleet on the Paris - London high-speed route, Renfe expects to see returns from the fourth year of operations. The skilled Spanish railway enterprise already uses the same family of train as Eurostar, the Siemens Velaro, for its AVE high-speed services meaning it has a good chance of being able to take them on. It is known that the state-owned company Renfe's related decision is part of the train operator’s internationalisation plans, which aim to see in the next 10 years 10% of the company’s total income come from abroad operations. Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Reply as guest
A Munro - 19/11/2021 21:10
Not with the Pendolino S-114 in the photo they won't, French Open Access approval will probably need the faster Talgo 350 otherwise it'll just clog up the LGV line in France. Hopefully they'll find a green excuse to explore options for extending further North to Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow or Edinburgh.
Reply as guest
Güntürk Üstün - 07/12/2021 10:22
At the end of October 2021, Renfe surprisingly announced its serious intentions to start operating high-speed trains between Paris and London. And for the approval of its own modern units to be used on the route in question, the Spanish national operator plans to approach the infrastructure managers HS1 Ltd (for the Eurotunnel - London HSL) and Getlink (for the Eurotunnel), and will thus try to avoid the French authorities, which are causing Renfe tedious difficulties in approving its Class 100 AVE TGVs (built by Alstom and CAF) for the services currently being prepared for the busy Paris - Lyon - Marseille route. This is just another leap of development in Renfe's current strategy of international expansion, which includes activities in the USA, but also the recent purchase [in August 2021] of a 50% stake in the Czech open-access operator Leo Express. Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Reply as guest