Eurostar
High-speed train service in Western Europe
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We include updates on Channel Tunnel, TGV, St Pancras railway station, High Speed 1, SNCF, Gare du Nord, British Rail Class 373, British Rail Class 374, Amsterdam Centraal station, National Railway Company of Belgium, Ashford International railway station, Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy station, Brussels-South railway station, Ebbsfleet International railway station, Rotterdam Centraal station, LGV Nord ... and more.
| May 2025 |
High Speed 1
Gemini Trains announced a co-branding partnership with Uber, planning to have Uber sell tickets through its app and co-brand 10 planned trains. The company intends to start services from Stratford International and aims to begin operations as early as 2030.
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| 2025 | Expected entry into service of the TGV M (Avelia Horizon), the latest generation of TGV train. |
| 2025 | Expected entry into service of the Avelia Liberty (Acela II), a new high-speed train for the United States that will replace the original Acela Express. |
| 2025 |
High Speed 1
Evolyn plans to order 12 trains from Alstom, contingent on securing project financing and regulatory approval.
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| April 2025 |
High Speed 1
Gemini Trains announced plans to operate trains across the Eurotunnel and applied for access to the Temple Mills Depot.
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| 2025 |
High Speed 1
Evolyn initially planned to start non-stop services between London and Paris
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| March 2025 |
High Speed 1
Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publishes a report confirming some capacity can be made available at Temple Mills depot for new cross-Channel services.
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| February 2025 |
High Speed 1
HS1 Ltd. begins trading under the new name London St. Pancras Highspeed, aiming to take a more consumer-facing approach and explore options for expanding capacity at London St. Pancras International railway station.
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| February 9 2025 | Planned reopening of juxtaposed controls buildings at Amsterdam Centraal and Rotterdam Centraal stations. |
| 2024 | Planned start of delivery for the newly ordered TGV M Avelia Horizon trainsets. |
| 2024 | Continued decline in truck transportation to 1,198,052, with 1,233 freight trains. |
| 2024 | Transport reached 11,201,093 passengers, with 2,187,146 shuttle service passenger vehicles, approaching pre-pandemic levels. |
| 2024 | NMBS/SNCB increased passenger numbers to 245 million, demonstrating significant growth in rail transportation over 16 years. |
| 2024 | The National Railway Company of Belgium increased its passenger volume to 245 million passengers, marking significant growth in rail transportation. |
| November 2024 |
High Speed 1
Virgin Group and Evolyn highlight Eurostar's non-agreement for Temple Mills depot access during an industry event at the Houses of Parliament, subsequently appealing to the ORR to assess available capacity.
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| September 2024 | Eurostar signed a memorandum of understanding to join SkyTeam as its first non-airline partner, establishing a significant air-rail alliance to enable integrated intermodal transport across the UK, France, and the Netherlands. |
| July 26 2024 | TGV suffered a major arson attack on the opening day of the 2024 Olympics, resulting in at least 800,000 people being affected and 25% of Eurostar trains being canceled. |
| June 15 2024 | Juxtaposed controls buildings at Amsterdam Centraal and Rotterdam Centraal were closed due to major track works, impacting direct Eurostar services. |
| May 2024 | Eurostar announced plans to order up to 50 new trains, signaling a significant expansion and modernization of its fleet. |
| January 2024 |
High Speed 1
Deutsche Bahn reaffirmed its fundamental interest in transport between London and the mainland through the Eurotunnel, while noting that routes and trains were not yet equipped with end-to-end ETCS.
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| 2023 | TGV network in France carries 122 million passengers. |
| 2023 | Truck transportation decreased to 1,206,754, with 1,417 freight trains operating. |
| 2023 | Continued recovery with 10,716,419 passengers and 2,236,713 shuttle service passenger vehicles. |
| 2023 | Mobico Group, owner of National Express, was reported to be considering cross-Channel services under the name 'Evolyn'. |
| 2023 | Cycle booking service was critically described as 'farcical'. |
| December 2023 |
High Speed 1
Getlink announced plans to double the market for direct high-speed trains from the UK within 10 years, with potential services to Cologne, Frankfurt, Geneva, and Zurich. The company aims to reduce time to market from 10 to 5 years through market research, tunnel regulation standardization, and collaboration with network operators.
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| November 2023 |
High Speed 1
Dutch rail start-up Heuro, led by Maarten van den Biggelaar, announced plans to operate 16 daily services from Amsterdam to London and Paris, seeking €600 million in funding and planning to use Zefiro V300 trains.
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| October 2023 | Multiple new companies expressed interest in running services through the Channel Tunnel: Evolyn (a Spanish start-up planning London-Paris services), Virgin Group exploring international service options, and Heuro (a Dutch start-up planning Amsterdam to Paris and London routes). |
| October 2023 | Eurostar brand officially replaced Thalys, operating as one unified network with combined ticket sales system. |
| 2022 | Passenger transport began recovering, with 8,295,005 passengers and 2,109,920 shuttle service passenger vehicles. |
| 2022 | Further reduction in freight volume to 864,058 tonnes, with a slight increase to 1,446,765 trucks and 1,488 freight trains. |
| 2022 | Getlink, the Channel Tunnel owner, considered purchasing trains to lease to rival operations. |
| 2022 | Eurostar discontinued services to Ashford International, Ebbsfleet International, Calais Frethun stations, and withdrew its Disneyland Paris and Avignon routes to focus on more profitable connections. |
| 2022 | Eurostar accumulated debts of €964 million following French bailouts and commercial loans. Passenger numbers recovered to 8 million, though still 3 million below 2019 levels. |
| November 2022 |
Nightstar
Generator van 96371 was transported to Inverness to be used as a carriage heater for Caledonian Sleeper.
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| 2021 | Continued decline in freight volume to 1,041,140 tonnes, with 1,361,529 trucks transported and 1,654 freight trains. |
| 2021 | Renfe, Spain's national rail operator, proposed competing London to Paris rail services. |
| December 2021 |
Nightstar
Eastern Rail Services purchased the three remaining Generator Vans from Motorail, with 96372 moving to Great Yarmouth.
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| October 2021 | Renfe, the Spanish state railway company, expressed interest in operating a cross-Channel route between Paris and London. |
| October 2021 |
High Speed 1
Renfe officially announced its intention to operate high-speed trains between Paris and London using the Channel Tunnel and High Speed 1, with the company believing such routes would be viable and profitable.
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| October 2021 | Announcement made that after merger completion, the Thalys brand would be discontinued, with all services to be operated under the Eurostar name but maintaining individual service liveries. |
| August 31 2021 | The ElecLink interconnector, a 51 km-long 320 kV DC power cable running through the Channel Tunnel, was switched into service during the night, enabling power transfer between British and French electricity networks. |
| June 2021 | TGV network had approximately 2,800 kilometers of high-speed lines (LGV) in operation, with four additional line sections under construction, forming four routes radiating from Paris. |
| January 2021 | Eurostar ridership dropped to less than 1% of pre-pandemic levels, prompting the company to seek governmental financial assistance from Britain's Treasury and Department for Transport. |
| 2020 | Continuation of TGV 01's farewell service tour, commemorating the end of the Sud-Est fleet's operational history. |
| 2020 |
Nightstar
Generator van 96371 moved to Polmadie TRSMD to be used as a carriage heater with the Caledonian Sleeper.
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| 2020 | Significant drop in passenger and vehicle transport due to COVID-19 pandemic, with only 2,503,419 passengers and 1,399,051 shuttle service passenger vehicles. |
| 2020 | Freight transportation declined to 1,138,213 tonnes, possibly due to global pandemic, with 1,451,556 trucks and 1,736 freight trains. |
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles High Speed 1, TGV, Eurostar, Channel Tunnel, Nightstar (train) & National Railway Company of Belgium, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.