ianstone
10-07-2010, 09:29 AM
Eurostar spends £700m on 200mph trains that will cut 15min off journey time from London to Paris to TWO hours
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 2:06 PM on 7th October 2010
Comments (7) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318431/Eurostar-spend-700m-200mph-trains-carry-900-passengers-each.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318431/Eurostar-spend-700m-200mph-trains-carry-900-passengers-each.html)
Government hopes to link route to £33bn high-speed link to Birmingham
Eurostar has announced it is to spend £700million on ten 200mph trains which will cut travel times even further.
The company, which runs services to Paris and Brussels from London's St Pancras station, will buy ten e320 trains from the German firm Siemens.
The arrival of the new trains, which each carry 900 passengers, could see London-Paris journey times reduced to just over two hours. At present it is 2hr 15min.
Until now Alsom, the German company's French rival, has supplied the Eurostar trains and today's decision is likely to anger the French government which has been pressing for this to continue.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B83A316000005DC-575_634x441.jpg One of the new Eurostar trains, having been brought over from Germany, is placed in front of the Albert Memorial, Kensington, today
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B832655000005DC-704_634x305.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B832655000005DC-704_634x305_popup.jpg)At 3am this morning the Eurostar is brought to its final destination. The company has announced a £700million investment in ten new Channel Tunnel trains
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B839DA1000005DC-83_634x414.jpg No cars or cyclists to hold thanks to it being maneouvered into position in the dead of night
TAKE ME TO EUROPE, AND FAST!
DESTINATION NOW IN THE FUTURE
Paris 2hr 15min Just over 2hr
Brussels 1hr 51min 1hr 40min
Amsterdam 4hr 16min Under 4hr
Geneva 6hr 28min Around 5hr
Lyon 4hr 57min Around 4hr 30min
Meanwhile, state-owned German railway giant Deutsche Bahn has also announced plans this month to compete with Eurostar - sparking a potential price war.
It is to bring a prototype of its own 'bullet trains' through the Channel Tunnel and into the capital's St Pancras International terminal on October 19 to showcase its plans for a high-speed link between the two financial centres from December 2013.
It aims to cut the train travelling time from Central London to Frankfurt Germany's financial centre, from around six hours top between four and five hours.
More...
Cabin air at 30,000ft poses same health risk as sitting in an office (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1318118/Air-plane-cabins-poses-health-risk-sitting-office.html)
UK tourism dip predicted after U.S. warnings about Europe terror attacks (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1318164/UK-tourism-dip-predicted-U-S-terror-warnings.html)
The new Eurostar trains will be able to run across the European high-speed network and will come equipped with the most advanced wi-fi and on-board ‘info-tainment’ on any train in Europe.
This will include real-time travel and destination information as well as interactive entertainment including video-on-demand, music and news-feeds.
The Eurostar announcement was welcomed by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond who earlier this week announced further details of the £33billion UK high-speed rail network - known as High Speed 2 (HS2).
Mr Hammond hopes work can start on HS2 by 2015 and studies are going on to see if the new network can be joined to the London to Folkestone Channel Tunnel link, now known as HS1.
HS2 would initially run to Birmingham and Mr Hammond this week signalled his preference for a Y-shaped network north of Birmingham, with separate legs from the West Midlands to Manchester and Leeds.
Mr Hammond said: 'The transformation of Eurostar into a single entity has created a company well placed to attract the resources and investment needed to deliver a world class service.
'That's good news for passengers but also for the UK taxpayer as well, who owns 40 per cent of Eurostar International.'
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B83EF20000005DC-267_634x494.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B83EF20000005DC-267_634x494_popup.jpg)This map shows the extent of the high-speed network across Europe. The new, faster, trains will mean that journey times to these cities will be reduced
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B831A4B000005DC-326_634x335.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B831A4B000005DC-326_634x335_popup.jpg)Travel times to current destinations will be even faster and the trains will be able to run across the European high-speed network
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B82F2A3000005DC-217_634x312.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B82F2A3000005DC-217_634x312_popup.jpg)The Eurostar was brought over from Germany to Tilbury docks, Essex, earlier this week and taken to the ExCel centre in London (pictured) before being taken to the centre of the capital this morning
Mr Hammond said a possible joining of HS2 to HS1 would create 'a truly international service for passengers and business'.
Eurostar chief executive Nicolas Petrovic said: 'Over the last 16 years Eurostar has revolutionised travel between London, Paris and Brussels but our sights are now set on expanding our business across Europe.
'The transformation of Eurostar into a stand-alone business and the major capital investment announced today is a mark of our growth ambitions for the future.
'The combination of our new state-of-the-art trains and our refurbished fleet will assure our position as the leading rail operator between the UK and the continent and make us the obvious choice for short-haul European travel.'
Snow getting into the works of trains caused a number of breakdowns of Eurostar services last Christmas, with hundreds of passengers stuck in the tunnel for many hours in appalling conditions.
All Eurostar services had to be suspended for three days in the busy run-up to Christmas, wrecking thousands of customers' travel plans.
The trains come a year after Spain and France have agreed to form a company to build a high-speed train line linking Madrid and Paris.
The line, which was planned to be in service from 2012, will mean that British travellers will be able to take the Eurostar to Paris.
Allowing for some delay in crossing Paris, they will then be able to board a high-speed train from the French capital to Madrid, stopping off in Lyon and Barcelona.
The journey time between Paris and the Spanish capital is expected to be between 5 hours 30 minutes and six hours.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318431/Eurostar-spend-700m-200mph-trains-carry-900-passengers-each.html#ixzz11gB9QMBu
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 2:06 PM on 7th October 2010
Comments (7) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318431/Eurostar-spend-700m-200mph-trains-carry-900-passengers-each.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318431/Eurostar-spend-700m-200mph-trains-carry-900-passengers-each.html)
Government hopes to link route to £33bn high-speed link to Birmingham
Eurostar has announced it is to spend £700million on ten 200mph trains which will cut travel times even further.
The company, which runs services to Paris and Brussels from London's St Pancras station, will buy ten e320 trains from the German firm Siemens.
The arrival of the new trains, which each carry 900 passengers, could see London-Paris journey times reduced to just over two hours. At present it is 2hr 15min.
Until now Alsom, the German company's French rival, has supplied the Eurostar trains and today's decision is likely to anger the French government which has been pressing for this to continue.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B83A316000005DC-575_634x441.jpg One of the new Eurostar trains, having been brought over from Germany, is placed in front of the Albert Memorial, Kensington, today
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B832655000005DC-704_634x305.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B832655000005DC-704_634x305_popup.jpg)At 3am this morning the Eurostar is brought to its final destination. The company has announced a £700million investment in ten new Channel Tunnel trains
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B839DA1000005DC-83_634x414.jpg No cars or cyclists to hold thanks to it being maneouvered into position in the dead of night
TAKE ME TO EUROPE, AND FAST!
DESTINATION NOW IN THE FUTURE
Paris 2hr 15min Just over 2hr
Brussels 1hr 51min 1hr 40min
Amsterdam 4hr 16min Under 4hr
Geneva 6hr 28min Around 5hr
Lyon 4hr 57min Around 4hr 30min
Meanwhile, state-owned German railway giant Deutsche Bahn has also announced plans this month to compete with Eurostar - sparking a potential price war.
It is to bring a prototype of its own 'bullet trains' through the Channel Tunnel and into the capital's St Pancras International terminal on October 19 to showcase its plans for a high-speed link between the two financial centres from December 2013.
It aims to cut the train travelling time from Central London to Frankfurt Germany's financial centre, from around six hours top between four and five hours.
More...
Cabin air at 30,000ft poses same health risk as sitting in an office (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1318118/Air-plane-cabins-poses-health-risk-sitting-office.html)
UK tourism dip predicted after U.S. warnings about Europe terror attacks (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1318164/UK-tourism-dip-predicted-U-S-terror-warnings.html)
The new Eurostar trains will be able to run across the European high-speed network and will come equipped with the most advanced wi-fi and on-board ‘info-tainment’ on any train in Europe.
This will include real-time travel and destination information as well as interactive entertainment including video-on-demand, music and news-feeds.
The Eurostar announcement was welcomed by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond who earlier this week announced further details of the £33billion UK high-speed rail network - known as High Speed 2 (HS2).
Mr Hammond hopes work can start on HS2 by 2015 and studies are going on to see if the new network can be joined to the London to Folkestone Channel Tunnel link, now known as HS1.
HS2 would initially run to Birmingham and Mr Hammond this week signalled his preference for a Y-shaped network north of Birmingham, with separate legs from the West Midlands to Manchester and Leeds.
Mr Hammond said: 'The transformation of Eurostar into a single entity has created a company well placed to attract the resources and investment needed to deliver a world class service.
'That's good news for passengers but also for the UK taxpayer as well, who owns 40 per cent of Eurostar International.'
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B83EF20000005DC-267_634x494.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B83EF20000005DC-267_634x494_popup.jpg)This map shows the extent of the high-speed network across Europe. The new, faster, trains will mean that journey times to these cities will be reduced
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B831A4B000005DC-326_634x335.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B831A4B000005DC-326_634x335_popup.jpg)Travel times to current destinations will be even faster and the trains will be able to run across the European high-speed network
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B82F2A3000005DC-217_634x312.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318431-0B82F2A3000005DC-217_634x312_popup.jpg)The Eurostar was brought over from Germany to Tilbury docks, Essex, earlier this week and taken to the ExCel centre in London (pictured) before being taken to the centre of the capital this morning
Mr Hammond said a possible joining of HS2 to HS1 would create 'a truly international service for passengers and business'.
Eurostar chief executive Nicolas Petrovic said: 'Over the last 16 years Eurostar has revolutionised travel between London, Paris and Brussels but our sights are now set on expanding our business across Europe.
'The transformation of Eurostar into a stand-alone business and the major capital investment announced today is a mark of our growth ambitions for the future.
'The combination of our new state-of-the-art trains and our refurbished fleet will assure our position as the leading rail operator between the UK and the continent and make us the obvious choice for short-haul European travel.'
Snow getting into the works of trains caused a number of breakdowns of Eurostar services last Christmas, with hundreds of passengers stuck in the tunnel for many hours in appalling conditions.
All Eurostar services had to be suspended for three days in the busy run-up to Christmas, wrecking thousands of customers' travel plans.
The trains come a year after Spain and France have agreed to form a company to build a high-speed train line linking Madrid and Paris.
The line, which was planned to be in service from 2012, will mean that British travellers will be able to take the Eurostar to Paris.
Allowing for some delay in crossing Paris, they will then be able to board a high-speed train from the French capital to Madrid, stopping off in Lyon and Barcelona.
The journey time between Paris and the Spanish capital is expected to be between 5 hours 30 minutes and six hours.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318431/Eurostar-spend-700m-200mph-trains-carry-900-passengers-each.html#ixzz11gB9QMBu