You wait thirty years for a competitor to Eurostar to come along, and then
threefive of them come along at once! Some time ago there was talk of
RENFE▸ running trains to Paris and on to London, then there was
Mobico (backed by National Express) and this Evolyn lot. Now there are two more.
You may have heard Richard Branson's name being mentioned a few days ago (
from RailTech):
Sir Richard Branson, the British entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin Group, is reportedly gearing up for a bid to break Eurostar’s long-held monopoly on Channel Tunnel rail services. The news, according to sources cited by The Telegraph newspaper in London, proposes that there may be a red liveried train in the Channel Tunnel to rival the familiar grey of Eurostar. The move, if confirmed, marks Branson’s return to the UK▸ rail sector. It is four years after his Virgin Trains operation was controversially ousted from its West Coast franchise...
Finally, a Dutch contender called Heuro thinks it can run 16 trains a day to Paris and 15 to London. That seems a huge number, though really it's one an hour which is not entirely unfeasible - just wildly implausible.
From RailTech again:
The brand-newly established railway company Heuro aims to be the alternative to Eurostar between Amsterdam, Paris and London from 2028. RailTech spoke to Dutch founder Roemer van den Biggelaar. “We just want lower prices and more people off planes and on trains”.
The core team behind Heuro is currently a trio, including father and son van den Biggelaar. Father Maarten, an established entrepreneur in the Netherlands, was already in talks with French railways SNCF▸ a decade ago, to set up a new international carrier. “The SNCF gave up on that then, they were still in a partnership with NS and did not want to get in their way,” says Roemer van den Biggelaar.
That was the end of the story back then, but as the rail market is opening up more and more, father and son see chances of it succeeding now. Van den Biggelaar: “I’ve been interested in it ever since I was little. Now we are trying again, but together”...
