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It could mean Brits could travel to Milan by train rather than by flightCredit: Alamy
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Trains to Geneva are also on the cardsCredit: Alamy
St Pancras has been looking to expand its station for some time now, hoping to increase its capacity to handle more passengers.
As many as 2,400 passengers an hour could use the station under the new plans, the Times reports, which could even go up to 5,000 in the longer term.
And both London St Pancras Highspeed and French operator Getlink have revealed plans to launch new routes between the UK and Europe in a new partnership.
Getlink said new routes could include Frankfurt, Cologne, Geneva and Zurich and even Milan.
Yann Leriche, the chief executive of Getlink, said: “We are keen to drive forward attractive opportunities for low-carbon [travel] with a range of new destinations in Germany, Switzerland and France.
“This partnership with London St Pancras Highspeed is essential for accelerating this momentum.”
Robert Sinclair, the chief executive of London St Pancras Highspeed added that they hoped it would “encourage new and existing train operators to expand capacity and launch new destinations unlocking the potential of a fully connected Europe”.
The news of the expansion has been big news with over 40 companies expressing interest in a contract to develop plans St Pancras station.
And London St Pancras Highspeed hope that the new terminal will see more Eurostar competitors.
Eurostar is currently the only operator with routes from the UK, connecting London to France, Belgium and The Netherlands.
The Sun reviews business class travel on the Eurostar
But many companies have been interested in putting their trains alongside Eurostar.
Richard Branson’s company, Virgin, is preparing to put a dozen high-speed trains to rival Eurostar.
Having scraped their domestic train routes back in 2019 after more than 20 years, the new international routes could launch by 2029.
They’re not the only ones wanting to take on the tunnel as start-up Evolyn announced plans for trains between London and Paris back in 2023.
The new fleet, consisting of 12 Avelia trains, would launch a limited service as soon as this year.
The Channel Tunnel opened in 1994 and according to the designers has significant spare capacity meaning traffic could safely double.
And a number of routes from the UK have been scrapped in recent years.
Eurostar once operated from Ashford International in Kent although this was scrapped during the pandemic.
What the St Pancras expansion means for Brits
The Sun’s Head of Travel Lisa Minot explains why this could even mean cheaper train tickets.
THE capacity squeeze at London’s beautiful St Pancras station has already taken its toll on Eurostar.
First, the lengthier checks that came after Brexit meant long queues. Then came the still to be introduced, European Entry Exit System which has seen Eurostar blocking off yet more of the station’s limited capacity for new machines.
At one point, there were even restrictions on the number of passengers able to book peak-time trains as Eurostar struggled to process travellers.
Newly introduced plans to triple the number of passengers using St Pancras by owner London St Pancras Highspeed, the company responsible for the station and high-speed track to Folkestone cannot come soon enough.
The Eurostar network is a shadow of its former glory – before the pandemic and Brexit, there were direct trains to Disneyland Paris, Marseille, Avignon, Lyon and the Alps.
International stations in Kent at Ashford and Ebsfleet were shuttered in the pandemic and have yet to reopen.
Now, Eurostar runs to Paris, Lille and Brussles plus Rotterdam and Amsterdam with a merger with Belgian operator Thalys in 2019 giving access to more of Europe’s high speed network but always involving changing trains.
Any plan to expand facilities to allow more passengers would be welcome.
And attracting competition would mean an increase in the number of European destinations we could reach by train – and hopefully some competitive pricing.
A huge petition has called for the return of the international train although they have said this won’t be addressed until at least next year.
Eurostar also stopped at Ebbsfleet International, which has also been scrapped, as well as once having direct routes to Disneyland Paris.
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As many as 5,000 passengers an hour could use St Pancras stationCredit: Alamy
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Publish date : 2025-02-21 00:35:00
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