| Re: Eurostar to order double decker trains Posted by ray951 at 12:17, 22nd October 2025 |     |
Several commentators are saying that these trains may never work through the Channel Tunnel and will be used for ex-Thalys services. For example https://jonworth.eu/eurostar-ordering-just-30-alstom-trains-pragmatism-and-a-lack-of-ambition/
Sounds to me as if Eurostar are being deliberately vague about where these trains are going to work so as to muddy the waters about access to the Temple Mills depot. I believe that ORR are in the process of making a decision about who else, if anyone, can have access to that depot.
| Eurostar to order double decker trains Posted by grahame at 09:20, 22nd October 2025 | |
From The BBC
Eurostar has revealed plans to run double-decker trains through the Channel Tunnel for the first time.
The cross-Channel rail operator has confirmed it will order up to 50 trains from manufacturer Alstom, eventually increasing the size of its fleet by nearly a third.
The expansion plans would include investing heavily in a crucial London depot, it said.
But questions remain over whether the facility has enough space for both Eurostar and potential rival operators to use it.
In the €2bn (£1.74bn) deal, confirmed on Wednesday, Eurostar has ordered 30 "Celestia" trains, with the option for 20 more.
Eurostar expects to start using the first six trains in 2031.
Each train would be 200m long. If two were run together, as happens currently, the resulting 400m service would have about 1,080 seats.
These would be the first double-decker high-speed trains to run through the Channel Tunnel.
The only other double-decker to ever appear on Britain's railways was an experiment that began in 1949.
The cross-Channel rail operator has confirmed it will order up to 50 trains from manufacturer Alstom, eventually increasing the size of its fleet by nearly a third.
The expansion plans would include investing heavily in a crucial London depot, it said.
But questions remain over whether the facility has enough space for both Eurostar and potential rival operators to use it.
In the €2bn (£1.74bn) deal, confirmed on Wednesday, Eurostar has ordered 30 "Celestia" trains, with the option for 20 more.
Eurostar expects to start using the first six trains in 2031.
Each train would be 200m long. If two were run together, as happens currently, the resulting 400m service would have about 1,080 seats.
These would be the first double-decker high-speed trains to run through the Channel Tunnel.
The only other double-decker to ever appear on Britain's railways was an experiment that began in 1949.
