Planned eurostar competitor update11 Oct 2023 15:25
Oct 11 - Evolyn said on Wednesday it agreed to
purchase 12 trains from Alstom ALSO.PA for its planned
high-speed rail service under the English Channel, which aims to
challenge Eurostar's monopoly on the connection.
The purchase of 12 trains from France's Alstom could be
expanded to 16 trains, Evolyn said in a statement.
"It would be the first time, after 30 years of Eurostar's
monopoly, that a competitor has entered the market," an Evolyn
spokesperson told Reuters.
Alstom, whose shares have recently plunged after a cash
warning from a slowdown in orders, said in an e-mail that it
"confirms being in discussions with Evolyn,".
The maker of France's iconic TGV train did not however
provide further details.
The total investment in the Evolyn project is 1 billion
pounds ($1.23 billion), Evolyn said in a statement, adding the
trains are expected to start running in 2025, with the service
in full operation in 2026.
"The owners or shareholders of this consortium are French
and British partners, both industrialists and investment funds,
as well as financiers, and long-standing railway professionals,
and international funds interested in the project," a
spokesperson for Evolyn told Reuters on Wednesday.
It did not specify who exactly the project's investors were,
and what their participation is, as this is pending
finalization.
Eurostar runs a lucrative business connecting London and
mainland Europe via high-speed rail, having made a record core
profit of 332 million euros ($352.48 million) for 2022. The
company said in June that its London-Netherlands route has seen
passenger volumes more than double when compared to pre-pandemic
levels.
Media had reported that Spanish industrialist family Cosmen,
an investor in coach and train company Mobico MCG.L - formerly
National Express - was one of the investors.
Mobico told Reuters in an e-mail on Wednesday that it was
not part of the consortium.
Getlink GETP.PA , the French operator of transport
infrastructure in the underwater Channel Tunnel, did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
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