A
Channel
Tunnel
consortium


which
includes
the
British
National
Express
Group
is
purchasing
12
trains
from
Alstom,
with
the
intention
of
competing
with
Eurostar.
The
consortium
is
investing
£1
billion,
and
has
an
option
to
‘scale
up’
its
fleet
to
16.

Eurostar
has
been
providing
services
between
London,
Paris
and
Brussels
since
1994,
and
has
recently
merged
with
continental
operator
Thalys.
It
also
now
runs
beyond
Brussels
to
Rotterdam
and
Amsterdam
but,
as
an
open
access
operator,
it
does
not
have
exclusive
rights
to
run
international
passenger
trains
through
the
Channel
Tunnel.

It
has
never
had
a
railway
competitor,
although
Deutsche
Bahn
ran
a
demonstration
ICE
train
to
St
Pancras
International
13
years
ago
this
month,
as
an
overture
to
launching
services
between
German
cities
and
London.
However,
these
never
appeared.

Spanish
national
operator
Renfe
has
also
considered
running
between
London
and
Paris,
again
without
result.

The
consortium,
known
as
Evolyn,
is
backed
by
the
Spanish
Cosmen
family.
The
Cosmens
have
a
holding
in
National
Express,
which
is
now
Mobico,
although
it
has
kept
its
original
brand
for
its
British
long-distance
coach
services.

Evolyn
chief
executive
Jorge
Cosmen
said:
‘The
acquisition
of
12
high-speed,
state-of-the-art
trains,
to
be
expanded
to
a
minimum
of
16
according
to
our
forecasts,
is
the
definitive
step
in
the
materialisation
of
Evolyn,
a
high-speed
rail
operator
that
has
been
under
development
for
three
years
and
that
today
marks
a
very
important
milestone.

‘We
know
that
the
governments
of
the
United
Kingdom
and
France
welcome
a
project
that
will
allow
their
citizens
to
increase
the
connection
options
between
the
UK
and
several
countries
in
continental
Europe
with
a
green
alternative
that
will
also
contribute
to
decarbonisation.’