Channel Tunnel news – Page 7
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NewsAshford International modified for use by Eurostar e320 trainsets
UK: Network Rail is undertaking work to equip the international platform tracks at Ashford International station with the KVB warning system used on High Speed 1, and is also altering the platform edges to the UIC-B loading gauge. This will enable the station to be served by Eurostar’s Siemens Velaro ...
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NewsGroupe Eurotunnel rebrands as Getlink
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel concessionaire Groupe Eurotunnel changed its name to Getlink with effect from November 20, saying the new brand reflected ‘the dynamism of connection and exchange’. Getlink is the parent company for four brands: Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel, French private rail freight operator Europorte, railway training centre CIFFCO, and ...
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NewsEurostar passengers to be able to watch virtual fish under the Channel
EUROPE: Cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar is to offer passengers an ‘immersive and unprecedented’ on-board virtual reality experience this summer. Primarily aimed at children and accessed through the on-train entertainment system using a smart device or via headsets which will be available onboard, Eurostar Odyssey will create a virtual ...
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NewsEurostar lounge seeks 'the spirit of a Parisian apartment'
FRANCE: Eurostar opened its relocated Business Premier lounge at Paris-Nord on February 4. Accessed after passengers pass through an expanded security and passport control area, the lounge is intended to offer a ‘stylish, comfortable environment for both working and relaxing’. The facility on the top floor of the original 19th ...
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NewsChannel Tunnel security centre opened
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel inaugurated a security control centre at its French terminal in Coquelles on January 18. The decision to make the ‘major investment’ in the centre was taken following a meeting in summer 2015 between the UK’s then Home Secretary Theresa May and her French counterpart Bernard ...
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NewsEurostar 'confident' as Amsterdam plans gather pace
EUROPE: Eurostar said it was seeing ‘signs of recovery in the trading environment’ when it announced its Quarter 3 results on November 4, with passenger numbers in the previous eight weeks increasing year-on-year. This followed a ‘challenging period’ when demand had been dampened by the Nice terrorist attack in July. ...
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NewsEurostar to cut services and jobs
EUROPE: Cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar is to reduce the number of services it operates by 8% and intends to cut 80 jobs. ‘This is a challenging environment for all travel companies and we need to manage our costs very carefully’, Eurostar told Railway Gazette. ‘That’s why we are ...
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News‘Brexit’ uncertainty hits Eurostar business
EUROPE: Cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar has reported a ‘challenging’ second quarter of 2016, with passenger numbers down 3% on the same period the previous year to 2·7 million, and sales revenues 10% lower at £208m. There was a ‘slowdown in business travel’ in the run-up to the ...
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NewsEurostar undertakes detailed planning for London – Amsterdam service
EUROPE: Cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar plans to run a test train between London and Amsterdam next month as part of the detailed planning for the launch of passenger services on the route in late 2017, CEO Nicolas Petrovic told Railway Gazette on April 25. Detailed discussions are underway ...
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NewsEurostar passenger numbers steady but profit down
EUROPE: Cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar reports that it carried 10·4 million passengers in 2015, the same total as 2014. Sales revenue was impacted by the strength of sterling, being flat year-on-year at constant exchange rates but down 5% at actual exchange rates from £867m in 2014 to ...
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NewsBoomerang delivery service trialled on Eurostar
EUROPE: High speed train operator Eurostar is running a three-month trial with Boomerang, an online platform which puts people in Paris and London in touch with each other to deliver products from across the Channel. Eurostar says users can connect to request ‘small but much-loved things they can’t get ...
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NewsEurostar e320 enters service
EUROPE: The first of Eurostar’s 17 Siemens-built Velaro e320 trainsets began operating in limited commercial service on November 20, having been authorised for passenger operation through the Channel Tunnel the previous day. According to Eurostar, ‘we received the final piece of safety authorisation earlier than expected’, allowing the company to ...
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NewsEurostar sale ‘represented value for money’ says NAO
UK: On November 6 the National Audit Office published a report into the £757·1m sale of the UK's interest in cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar International, concluding that the government achieved its objective of maximising proceeds and that the sale represented value for money for taxpayers. However, Meg Hillier ...
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NewsEurostar e300 trainset refurbishment completed
EUROPE: The first of Eurostar’s ‘remodelled and redesigned’ trainsets is expected to return passenger service ‘in the coming weeks’, the cross-Channel high speed train operator announced on July 21. The refurbishment of the Class 373 trains dating from the launch of Eurostar services in 1994 is being undertaken at ...
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NewsEuropean Commission approves SNCF control of Eurostar
EUROPE: The European Commission announced on May 13 that it had approved a shareholders’ agreement which will see French national railway SNCF acquire sole management control of cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar International Ltd. This approval is subject to commitments which are designed to facilitate the entry of new ...
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NewsUK Eurostar sale price 'ahead of expectations'
EUROPE: The British government announced an agreement to sell its entire stake in Eurostar International Ltd for £757·1m on March 4. Eurostar International owns the UK’s 40% stake in the cross-Channel high speed train operator, with France’s state-owned train operator SNCF holding 55% and its Belgian counterpart SNCB the remaining ...
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NewsEurostar growth continues in 2014
EUROPE: Announcing preliminary results for 2014 on February 18, Eurostar International Ltd reported sales revenue of £867m, up 1% from £857m the year before or 4% at constant exchange rates. Like-for-like operating profit was up 2% at £55m from £54m the year before, reflecting ‘additional non-cash charges’ made against the ...
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NewsEurostar orders seven more e320s
EUROPE: Marking the 20th anniversary of the launch of passenger services through the Channel Tunnel with a celebration at London St Pancras on November 13, Eurostar announced that it had signed Heads of Agreement with Siemens for seven more e320 trainsets. On display in Platform 5 was one of ...
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NewsUK invites interest in buying 40% stake in Eurostar
EUROPE: The British government formally invited expressions of interest in buying its 40% stake in cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar International Ltd on October 13. Potential bidders have until October 31 to respond, with the government saying its key objective is to ‘maximise value for money for the ...
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NewsSNCF to expand Eurostar terminal in Lille
FRANCE: SNCF’s Gares et Connexions business unit has announced plans to double the capacity of the Eurostar terminal at Lille Europe station in a seven-month project valued at €3m. Work to expand both the waiting areas and security zone of the ‘Transmanche terminal’ will begin in March for completion by ...
