tell me about eurostar

[teuchter]

Here is an interesting press release from Alstom, in relation to the proposed "Evolyn" London-Paris services mentioned above.

13/10/2023 - Alstom statement on Evolyn Press Release issued on October 11

13 October 2023 – In reference to the recent Evolyn Press Release issued on October 11, which seemingly confirmed an agreement betwe

www.alstom.com

13 October 2023 – In reference to the recent Evolyn Press Release issued on October 11, which seemingly confirmed an agreement between Evolyn and Alstom for the acquisition of twelve (12) Very High-Speed Trains, Alstom would like to provide important information, as a means of clarification, and as such wishes to highlight the following items:
Alstom and Evolyn have established a short-term agreement to proceed with initial train system engineering activities with the objective of accelerating activities, should the parties eventually enter into a contract for the purchase and delivery of a certain number of trains, provided that Evolyn is capable of securing project financing.
With regards to potential future delivery dates for new trains, at this time, the final train delivery dates will be confirmed when a firm and final contract will be agreed upon, to be signed at a later date.

This gives an indication of the likelihood that this proposal is pie-in-the-sky. We'll see though.

 

[T & P]

I was intrigued by the ‘very high speed’ description of the train model said to have been chosen. Am I right to say that ‘very high speed’ is a classification for trainsets capable of top speeds of 330 kph or higher, whereas your usual 300 kph trains are just ‘high speed’?

 

[teuchter]

I was intrigued by the ‘very high speed’ description of the train model said to have been chosen. Am I right to say that ‘very high speed’ is a classification for trainsets capable of top speeds of 330 kph or higher, whereas your usual 300 kph trains are just ‘high speed’?

I'm not aware of any kind of official classification, might just be Alstom marketing speak.

 

[DJWrongspeed]

I've only been on a train on a boat the one time, going across to Sicily. I slept through the whole process and arrived in Palermo for late morning. It hardly took much time and saved me having to pay for a hotel room!

I heard about that train/ferry , is it real?

 

[Riklet]

Great news about a competitor to Eurostar. Direct trains to Barcelona would be even better.

Fingers crossed Eurostar go bust taking out a whole load of shitbag investors in the process and some more decent people can run the trains. Yes I am optimistic.

 

[pbsmooth]

I'll eat my well connected French partner's beret if there's a Eurostar competitor any time soon... Ain't happening.

 

[teuchter]

I heard about that train/ferry , is it real?

Yes.

 

[trashpony]

You can travel from Zhangzhou to Barking by train (in a box) Rail freight from China to Europe - Rates & Transit Time | Free Quote | SINO Shipping - SINO Shipping

 

[Elpenor]

You can travel from Zhangzhou to Barking by train (in a box) Rail freight from China to Europe - Rates & Transit Time | Free Quote | SINO Shipping - SINO Shipping

One for Flat Stanley perhaps

 

[teuchter]

That train that ran through to Barking only lasted a few weeks before they pulled the plug on it. So your container from China might get as far as Germany or the Netherlands by rail but will then complete its journey by sea or road, sadly.

 

[skyscraper101]

No services to Amsterdam for 11 months next year

Eurostar will run direct London-Amsterdam trains this summer

A six month suspension of services will no longer take place as the rail operator has found a solution to Amsterdam station works.

www.euronews.com

Looks like this has been revised down to 6 months, and is actually just Amsterdam > London which is suspended.

Eurostar Amsterdam-to-London services to be suspended for six months

Trains will be suspended from next June because of renovation work at Amsterdam's central station.

www.bbc.com

London > Amsterdam will continue as normal.

 

[teuchter]

It's a bit weird how this is being reported, which is as if Eurostar is going to stop running to Amsterdam for six months.

As far as I can make out, the only thing that's going to change is that if you are travelling Amsterdam-London, then you'll have to get off the train at Brussels, go through customs/passport checks there, then get back on and continue.

It's not great - obviously it'll add 45 minutes or so to the journey time - but it's not like the whole service is being suspended. And London-Amsterdam will continue to be direct.

 

[DJWrongspeed]

Had a great trip to Antwerp recently on Eurostar. On arrival in Brussels the ticket allows you another train journey within Belgium. It was all so much easier than flying.
As others have commented Eurostar only really works for people living in London. If you live near an airport it stops being useful but then alot of people do live in London !

I'm contemplating London to Girona next year using Eurostar. Will need a good book

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Eurostar tickets to Brussels used to be valid to any Belgian station on the same day, but they took that away a few years ago and now you must specify that for an additional cost. Still cheaper than buying the extra ticket though.

 

[skyscraper101]

Update, to and from Amsterdam will now still be possible (change in Brussels still for return to London)

Eurostar trains to Amsterdam are back on track for the summer

Feared six-month closure averted - but UK-bound passengers will have to change trains in Brussels

www.standard.co.uk

 

[teuchter]

Looks like some successful spin from Eurostar there - it's basically a repeat of what was reported back in November, except with one fewer direct train per day. So they have managed to get it reported as "back on track" and "feared closure averted" despite basically announcing a reduction in service compared to what they previously said.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Not an issue though, between BA, KLM & Easyjet there are 46 flights every weekday from Amsterdam to London, covering Heathrow, Gatwick, City, Luton and Stansted. Plenty of choice for everyone

 

[teuchter]

How many seats per day is that?

An interesting thing about high speed rail is how much capacity it can provide with relatively few services. City pairs that have a large number of flights between them are the ones that are attractive to rail operators, if the journey time can be made to work.

I gather that in the longer term they have their eye on London/Geneva, which has a large number of flights, and potentially can compete on time.

 

[Winot]

Off to Rotterdam tomorrow for the weekend. Direct out and change at Brussels on return.

We've been to all of the other direct Eurostar destinations apart from this.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

How many seats per day is that?

Varies between aircraft, the London City ones tend to be smaller than the others, but say an average of 150 per flight, ~7000 a day. A Eurostar train can carry ~900 so would need at least 8 trains in each direction to cope, not to mention those going to Lille, Brussels and Rotterdam.

 

[teuchter]

Eurostar, I believe, has never used more than about half of the capacity theoretically available to it, and they have run up to about 30 trains in each direction to date.

 

[skyscraper101]

If they made the prices a bit more competitive with the airlines then that probably wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Eurostar, I believe, has never used more than about half of the capacity theoretically available to it, and they have run up to about 30 trains in each direction to date.

Not sure how they can get more people through St Pancras though, the check in lines snaked out of the back of the building on busy days before Brexit, since then they snake out out the building even on mildly busy days.

 

[teuchter]

Not sure how they can get more people through St Pancras though, the check in lines snaked out of the back of the building on busy days before Brexit, since then they snake out out the building even on mildly busy days.

I think passenger-processing capacity at St Pancras is one of their constraints currently yes. It's not clear how easy it would be to increase it. There appears to be a certain amount of retail space that could be converted given sufficient commercial incentive. St Pancras is owned by HS1 not Eurostar, and HS1 have recently been talking about trying to attract competing operators. So they must have some kind of solution in mind.

It would be nice to see Ebbsfleet or Ashford brought back into use. Not sure how likely that is.

 

[pbsmooth]

Not an issue though, between BA, KLM & Easyjet there are 46 flights every weekday from Amsterdam to London, covering Heathrow, Gatwick, City, Luton and Stansted. Plenty of choice for everyone

I’d rather get Eurostar then fly absolutely every time.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

I’d rather get Eurostar then fly absolutely every time.

Depends on what you're doing, a day return to Amsterdam is certainly possible by Eurostar, though if you need to do that chances are you are travelling for business and as the major business district of Amsterdam is Hoofddorp which is right next to Schiphol then flying is much easier, fwiw I don't think I have ever booked a day trip to Amsterdam by rail, do book an awful lot of flight day trips though.

 

[skyscraper101]

I did a day return to Brussels on Eurostar once but that was because work were paying. Most of the time I can't justify the markup in cost compared to flying.

I also don't think the experience is that much better tbh. The waiting area at St. Pancras, Gare du Nord, Midi etc are all prone to overcrowding with little to no facilities. At least in airports they are roomier and have more shops, bars etc after security/passport control.

 

[pbsmooth]

flying is just so much slower with more time wasted than getting on a train. and the train stations are in the centre of town whereas airports aren’t.

 

[teuchter]

flying is just so much slower with more time wasted than getting on a train. and the train stations are in the centre of town whereas airports aren’t.

But if you fly, you can sit in airport lounges and feel important, and wind up the wokerati with their "climate change" nonsense.

 

[pbsmooth]

But if you fly, you can sit in airport lounges and feel important, and wind up the wokerati with their "climate change" nonsense.

yeah, that is about the only positive.