Eurostar’s bid to expand across Europe
14 May 2012
Eurostar’s bid to expand across Europe
Eurostar is looking at expansion out of London, adding up to 10 destinations to four European countries over the next five years.
According to the Financial Times, the train operator is looking to run services from St Pancras in London to the Netherlands, Germany, southern France and Switzerland.
This would be a direct challenge to airlines which have seen flights between London, Paris and Brussels severely hampered since the introduction of the train service in 1994.
The time savings by rail were helped by the high-speed rail line between the Channel tunnel and London.
Nicolas Petrovic, chief executive of Eurostar, is planning to use the liberalisation of European rail markets to launch services across western Europe to destinations including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Cologne, Lyon, Marseille and Geneva.
“By 2016 and 2017 we would like people when they are thinking about travelling to these cities to consider taking Eurostar rather than flying,” he told the FT.
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