Now Eurostar will have a rival on cross-Channel rail routes

Virgin Trains, part of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is set to begin operating passenger trains to mainland Europe through the Channel Tunnel following an announcement by the UK rail regulator. 

Virgin Trains has also announced the acquisition of a fleet of high-speed trains as it gears up to challenge Eurostar, which has held a monopoly on routes to Europe since 1994.

Virgin Trains said this week that there are “no more major hurdles to overcome” before it can begin operating. 

It has acquired a fleet of 13 high-speed trains for future services from London through the Channel Tunnel to Paris, Brussels and onwards to Frankfurt, starting in late 2027.

Thanks to a financial package negotiated with BlackRock, Virgin has purchased the 330 kmh trains from Germany’s Deutsche Bahn. 

The Siemens-built 406 series trains were most recently in service between Frankfurt, Brussels and Amsterdam. Each train is composed of eight carriages and seats 425 passengers, news portal Travel Mole reports.

“The opportunity to purchase these trains now was an offer too good to turn down," Branson told British media. 

"With no need to wait for new trains to be built, we can bring forward our plans for new services through the Channel Tunnel that customers have been demanding. 

"Anyone who has taken one of these trains has been enchanted by their reliability and comfort.”

Virgin Trains will start its services in December 2027, with seven return trips planned each day from 
London to Paris, and six a day to Brussels. Two of the Brussels services will continue to Germany. 

That will make Virgin the first company to offer direct UK-Germany services.

Virgin Trains head of European Operations Jean-Eric Suiscon said “We are happy to have 
found a way to adapt services in Germany for Channel Tunnel services."

Frequent flyer points for catching the train?

Eurostar is set to become the first non-airline partner of international airline alliance SkyTeam.

The railway network has signed a deal with SkyTeam paving the way for integrated  journeys via air and rail, news hub Travel Mole reports. 

This would enable travellers to combine long- and medium-haul flights and rail journeys in a single reservation – while enjoying SkyTeam benefits.

SkyTeam is one of the world's three major airline alliances, along with Star Alliance and Oneworld. It has an annual passenger count of 624 million flyers.

Eurostar’s network offers options for multi-city journeys between the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

Customers will be able to fly into SkyTeam’s main hubs in France, the Netherlands and the UK plus other major European airports across Eurostar’s network and enjoy multi-city travel. 

Around 13% of Eurostar passengers currently fly long-haul into one of SkyTeam’s main European hubs and connect to Eurostar destinations by rail.

The two companies will work together in the coming months to create a more "integrated experience" and the partnership is expected to launch in the first half of 2025.

Eurostar and SkyTeam member KLM already have a long-standing relationship.

“Eurostar is a natural fit for SkyTeam," says aid SkyTeam CEO Patrick Roux.

" I look forward to developing our partnership and offering customers greater choice in how they travel across SkyTeam’s global network.” 

SkyTeam members include Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Delta Airlines, Garuda, China Airlines, Korean, Scandinavian Airlines and Vietnam Airlines.

Off the rails: French train travel impacted by strike

Planning to catch a train in France this weekend? Good luck.

Travellers are being warned major disruptions to French rail services will likely last until Monday morning.

Industrial action by SNCF train managers started on Thursday and is also affecting Eurostar services, Travel Mole reports.

“Due to a train manager strike in France, we’ll be running a revised timetable on our routes until Sunday,” Eurostar said.

The strike - which followers delayed negotiations over wages deals - will continue to affect national and regional services over the weekend with travellers being advised to check train operator’s advice before travelling. 

The French love a strike, of course, particularly at a busy time. 

The SNCF expected that only half of high-speed TGV services would run over the holiday weekend.

SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou criticised the strike action for "disrupting the lives of French people who want to go on holiday".

”We will try to run all the trains that head to the Alps and the Pyrénées for the winter holidays,” he said. Because nothing is more important than a ski break.

Jet2 warned travellers on half-term breaks to plan ahead for transport to and from airports.

“Allow extra time for your journey to the airport as we are operating all our flights as scheduled.” it said.

“If you have a Jet2holidays transfer, this will not be affected by this industrial action.”

SNCF has advised people not to travel.

“Passengers are urged to postpone travel if possible,” it said.

Here is the SNCFR advice: https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/help/disruption-information

On the right track: London to the Alps

So you will be in London this northern winter, but fancy a few days skiing in the Alps?

Eurostar Group has announced details of the brand-new Eurostar Snow train service leaving from London to the Alps via Lille Europe.

With fares starting from £99, ski and snowboard enthusiasts can head to the pistes by making a connection in Lille before continuing their journey on a Eurostar continental train.

Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased via Eurostar.com.

The new service offers customers a sustainable alternative to flying - and now crowded airports - with more stops in the Alps than ever before. Eurostar Snow will take travellers to top ski resorts including Chambéry, Albertville, Moutiers and Aime-La Plagne, before arriving in Bourg-Saint-Maurice, its final destination.

Departing from London from December 16, Eurostar Snow will run for eight weekends throughout the ski season. Leaving on Saturday mornings, the train will arrive at the slopes in perfect time for après-ski.

Francois Le Doze, Chief Commercial Officer, Eurostar Group: “We're proud to offer our customers a sustainable travel option to the Alps by launching our first connecting service as Eurostar Group. 

"With a quick and easy connection, competitive pricing and five stops to choose from, passengers can enjoy a seamless experience with us from the city of London to the snow-capped mountains of France.”

Passengers benefit from a generous luggage allowance offering each traveller two suitcases, one piece of hand luggage and skis or snowboard at no extra cost.

Brexit "blessings" continue with Eurostar blow

Planning to catch a Eurostar train between London and Amsterdam next summer?

Sorry, the bad news is that you might have to fly instead.

It was announced this week that Eurostar’s Amsterdam service could be facing a suspension of up to 11 months due to renovations to be undertaken at Amsterdam’s main railway station (above).

The work at the station will limit space, meaning a lack of facilities to complete post-Brexit passport checks for Eurostar Amsterdam travellers. Yet another Brexit bonus.

The work will last from June 2024 to May 2025, Travel Mole reports.

The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure says it could complete the renovation work within seven months. But the best estimate is 11 months.

The work will eventually shift the Eurostar terminal to a lower level beneath the main rail station.

Eurostar Amsterdam trains run four times daily.

“We calculate it means 21 extra flights between Schiphol and London and that is crying shame,” Eurostar said in a statement.

Eurostar CEO Gwendoline Cazenave is in the Netherlands this week for talks with government officials.

Unless a solution can be found, the suspension would see the Eurostar network reduced from a pre-Brexit total of 13 year-round stations to just four: London, Lille, Paris and Brussels.

Brexit issues causing empty seats on Eurostar trains

Brexit, the gift that keeps on destroying, has severely impacted Eurostar trains travelling between the UK and France.

Post-Brexit border procedures mean more time is needed so that UK passengers' passports can be checked and stamped.

Eurostar chief executive Gwendoline Cazenave said post-Brexit border checks and current levels of border staff had seen 30% less travellers being accommodated.

She said new border formalities had caused "bottlenecks" in stations.

Eurostar is currently operating just 14 services per day between London and Paris, compared with 18 in 2019.

About 350 out of 900 seats are being left unsold on the first services between London, Paris and Brussels despite “huge demand”, British media reported.

Cazenave told local media that the company might not restore some services it suspended last year due to the ongoing problems.

"The thing is now we are not able to run the same transport offer as what we had before in 2019, because of bottlenecks in stations," she said.

"We have a main issue in Eurostar terminals because of the new boarding conditions between the UK and EU, because of the impact of Covid, because of [not enough] staff in the stations."

Cazenave added that Eurostar was working with both French and UK authorities to find a solutions - including utilising more border staff.

Eurostar last year stopped its direct service from London to Disneyland Paris and also ended stops at Ebbsfleet or Ashford International stations.

UK passengers travelling to the EU need their passport stamped when they cross the border, which has caused many delays.

An Entry/Exit System, or EES, will replace the checks, but the technology has been delayed several times and is now due to be implemented at the end of 2023.

Eurostar is currently offering only 70% of available seats on some services, leaving mny empty to avoid further delays.

Be quick for bargain European rail fares

No dithering. No procrastinating. You'll need to move quickly to pick up some of the best rail deals seen in Europe for some time.

Eurostar and Thalys have teamed up for a joint promotion offering Europe-wide rail tickets at low fares.

The deal offers £29/€29 one-way fares for travel across the combined networks - but only until tomorrow morning Australian time.

Fares are valid for travel between November 28, 2022, and February 2, 2023, Travel Mole reports.

Direct Eurostar journeys between London St. Pancras and Paris, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels and Lille are available from £29 one way, with onward connections via Thalys in Brussels to destinations such as Cologne from an additional €29 one way. That's about $51 per trip. 

The promotion is the first joint commercial action since the merger between Eurostar and Thalys last May.

Francois Le Doze, Chief Commercial Officer, Eurostar said: “We are pleased to launch our first joint promotion, to enable our customers to experience the best of both services at low fares. Passengers can enjoy exploring destinations further into Europe, with a simple connection in Brussels.”

Check it out here: https://booking.eurostar.com/uk-en/eurostar-sales?bookingType=standard&origin=7015400&destination=8727100

On the right track: rail companies help Ukraine refugees

 

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Railway companies across Europe are coming to the aid of Ukraine citizens fleeing Russian brutality. following the invasion.  

Many European Union countries have introduced fast-track visa processes to allow quick entry for refugees and now rail companies have joined Wizz Air in helping move people.

Eurostar, the cross-Channel train operator, is offering free travel to Ukrainians entering the UK from Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. 

The firm said that all those with a valid UK visa should speak to a member of Eurostar staff at Paris Nord, Brussels-Midi, Lille Europe or Amsterdam Central stations to receive their free ticket.

Rail companies in Poland, Germany, Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Denmark and France have also launched similar schemes for those fleeing the conflict. 

This follows Wizz Air offering 100,000 free seats on flights across continental Europe departing from Hungary, Poland, Slovakia or Romania in March.

The UK Government, many of whose members are fast friend with Russian oligarchs, has not followed the EU’s lead in waiving limits to visa-free access. 

This is largely due to the intransigence of stone-hearted Home Secretary Priti Patel, surely the most inappropriately named politician on the planet. 

It has, instead, announced temporary concessions that allow elderly parents, grandparents, adult children and siblings of UK-based Ukrainian nationals to enter the country. 

Eurostar said: “To help Ukrainian nationals travelling to the UK, we can offer a free Eurostar ticket from any Eurostar station to London St. Pancras International.”

“It is important to arrive with the necessary visa documents, as these will be checked by the UK Border Force during the check-in process. 

"The UK government is regularly reviewing the criteria for Ukrainian refugees to enter the UK, so we would strongly recommend contacting the British Embassy or checking the UK government website for the latest information.” 

Facial recognition technology may remove the need for passport checks

European rail operator Eurostar is set to begin trials of a new biometric identity verification technology that promises seamless travel across national borders.

Created by identity, payments and data protection developer Entrust, the new system will allow travellers to register their face and passport ahead of travel for a touch-free journey through border checks, Travelmole reports.

No more passport scans. The way of the future?

Passengers embarking at London’s St Pancras International will use only their face to check in for their train, having registered their passport and facial image before travel. 

Using the Entrust Seamless Travel Solution, passport data will be automatically sent to UK Border Force to check.

The initiative is the first move into travel for Entrust, which said its technology meant travellers could also dispense with boarding passes and the need to show documents multiple times at different checkpoints.

It said: “The Seamless Travel Solution follows all regulations, does not retain personally identifiable information and encrypts all data in transit and at rest for maximum user security.

“Each traveller using the service can receive the option to store their digital travel credential on their personal mobile device, but this is not required.”

Gordon Wilson, Entrust’s vice-president identity verification, added: “As citizens of the world begin to travel again, now is the perfect time to bring this solution to the market.

“We are confident that the Seamless Travel Solution will help launch the world into a new era of travel, allowing travellers to feel safer and experience less hassle, while also enabling operational efficiency to both border agencies and the entire travel industry through digital transformation.”

High-speed Eurostar serves London, Paris, Brussels, Lille, the South of France and many more European destinations.