For three decades, Eurostar has held a monopoly on passenger trains in the Channel Tunnel since it opened in 1994.
But now, a new potential rival has emerged: Italy’s national state-owned railway company, which could turn the game on its head.
Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS Group) says it will launch a new high-speed rail service between London and Paris by 2029 that would compete with Eurostar.
The group, which is a co-owner of Avanti West Coast, could extend the route to Marseilles, Lyon and Milan, and is also looking at a possible reopening of Ashford International in Kent.
Eurostar stopped calling at the station March 2020 due to Covid.
Fares on the rail link between the UK and France have soared since the pandemic, but passengers can soon look forward to a change in the game.
There are now six players vying to compete with Eurostar’s dominance over the Channel Tunnel — and experts are welcoming the fight.
‘Any competition is good competition, a new player would obviously help to bring rail fares down,’ Zoe Adjey, Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Tourism and Hospitality at the University of East London, tells Metro.
She says it’s high time that the UK levels up its rail services, both at home and abroad.
‘When you think back 30 years ago when we first got Eurostar at Waterloo, you should have been able to move to Manchester at the same speed – that never happened,’ she notes.
‘The rail industry hasn’t done what they were supposed to be doing.’
FS Italiane Group has committed to investing €1 billion to transform Europe’s train network.
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How to get free Eurostar tickets (in business class)
‘This weekend I went to Paris for 24 hours and did not pay a single penny for my train, there or back. And, I went in business class.’
That’s the claim made by Lucy Josephs, a 25-year-old influencer who describes herself as your ‘type B travel bestie’ on TikTok.
It sounds too good to be true, but for once in this life, Metro has discovered that it’s very much fact — if you sign up as a mystery shopper. Read more about Lucy’s budget hack here.
Commenting on the news, FS Italiane Group chief executive Stefano Antonio Donnarumma said: ‘High-speed rail networks are the backbone of efficient and environmentally friendly mobility, and by expanding our presence on key corridors, we are not just investing in infrastructure and innovation, but also in the future of European transport.
‘More competition will help to create a more efficient and customer-oriented industry, offering a real alternative to air travel.’
Who will win in the rail renaissance?
There’s no doubt that we are in the midst of a rail renaissance.
European cities could see a flurry of new rail connections in the next five years, and Zoe says a more competitive market would boost this revival even further.
‘The best thing about all of this is that trains are sustainable,’ she says.
‘I’d never knock the likes of Ryanair and other budget airlines, what they’ve done to boost tourism is incredible. But at the end of the day, this is better for the environment.
‘The problem so far has been cost, it just shouldn’t be three times more expensive to get the train than to fly. Get the prices down, and people will use trains more.’
As it stands, the difference in rail and airfare is dramatic. Let’s look at the numbers.
Booking three days ahead of time for an early morning journey from London to Paris on Saturday, 12 April, a standard seat on the Eurostar costs £202, while the easyJet fare from Gatwick is £152.99.
The same journey on Friday, May 2, costs £167 on the Eurostar. An easyJet ticket is £77.99 — almost £100 cheaper.
FS Italiane Group is now one of six companies bidding to end Eurostar’s monopoly on the Channel Tunnel.
The market scramble has raised hopes of the UK eventually getting rail services to Switzerland, Germany and Italy.
In March, Gemini Trains unveiled plans to connect London St Pancras with Paris and Brussels.
The firm, chaired by Labour peer Lord Berkeley, said it planned to offer seats at prices that would rival Eurostar.
Other players include London St Pancras High Speed (which recently rebranded from HS1), Spanish start-up Evolyn, and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.
Channel Tunnel operator Getlink has also expressed interest.
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Just weeks ago, Virgin Group announced there are ‘no more major hurdles to overcome’ in its £700million rail project to operate cross-channel trains from London to Paris, Brussels, and potentially Amsterdam later on.
The company made the positive claim after the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) confirmed that Eurostar’s Temple Mills maintenance depot could be used by other train operators.
Access to a suitable depot has been the biggest stumbling block for operators to compete with Eurostar, according to industry experts.
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