Eurostar: Thirty years of challenges • FRANCE 24 English

[@ce1834]

Someone needs to break the monopoly of Eurostar, and sort out capacity at St Pancras - prices are ridiculous! Even bringing Stratford into use finally would be interesting

[@DaveFlash]

not gonna happen anytime soon, as the British and French governments gave Eurotunnel Group a 55-year operating concession licence which was actually extended to 65 years in 1993 which means Eurostar Group will keep operation the chunnel until at least 2052 at the earliest.

[@martijnwo4840]

⁠@@DaveFlashI mean, Eurotunnel Group is completely independent from Eurostar. So not really true.

[@toastehh09]

lmao if you think competition reduces prices. All markets are a sham

[@intuition1519]

Eurostar always had border controls, the UK was never in Schengen.

[@lausimeyer6558]

Before Brexit, there were much more EU-passengers at the stations to and from Britain, and a lot less time per passenger was needed for border control.

[@melaniedrogr951]

One day eurostar will finally be forced to give up her monopoly, and capacity will finally increase. With the added benefit of them being unable to blackmail the netherlands anymore.

[@DELUXEHOTELSBLOXBURG]

It will happen in a years or two, I think its called Evolyn

[@theDaNi0]

How are they blackmailing the Netherlands?

[@puccaland]

Nobody is blackmailing anyone and there is already a project to open the Chunnel to other companies.

[@melaniedrogr951]

@@theDaNi0 eother the netherlands cancelled multiple trains, or eurostar would leave. Because they dont like their (faster) route between amsterdam and rotterdam. And given to how they do everything possible to block competition. It is cancel multiple national trains or loose your connection to london. No we dont care that you gave us a faster route, we want this one.

[@melaniedrogr951]

Connection to london and paris*

[@user-xs8vr5yr4z]

I would like to take Eurostar instead of flight, but the train is 2-3 times more expensive than the plane. Please make it as cheap as Ryanair, Easyjet etc.

[@puccaland]

It isn't. It takes you city center to city center that's 20 euros to get from Beauvais to Paris. There are ticket fares at around 50 euros and you can bring 2 piece of luggage's plus smaller carry on etc.

[@user-xs8vr5yr4z]

@@puccaland I have just checked the price: London-Paris with Eurostar costs 109-148 quid on December 16, 2024. And direct flight with Easyjet 59 quid. Train charges twice more. I dont need two luggages for 1-2 nights in Paris.

[@likeazir]

​@@user-xs8vr5yr4zunfortunately you have to book 3 months or so in advance to get fares in the 50-60 euro range, but if you can, it's great

[@lausimeyer6558]

@@user-xs8vr5yr4z The price is not the whole story. Easyjet only has super tight economy seats without any personal space, what's not an option for me. E* has a nice first class with much more space to get the work done. The 2 hours from Brussels to London are a perfect distance for working.

[@rkan2]

​@@puccalandLast time I got to Beauvais 20€ return and not everyone is going to center of London. The time before that I flew Easyjet from CDG...

[@miiiiiturn]

Haven't used Eurostar since they removed the stops in Kent. Going into London with 2 young kids is simply too much hassle so we now just drive all the way to Disney... Cheaper yes but no where near as relaxing for me. If they bring back one of the Kent stations I would use again in a heartbeat!

[@goodwood-rc4nx]

and they have removed the link to Disney anyway so have to see if the other stations not stopping at are put back

[@cybermaxpower]

it disappointing that Eurostar not stopping in Ashford at the moment. if you want to go to Europe by train you have to go all the way to London first it is not eco-friendly or cost-effective to be going the extra miles. Lets hope that Eurostar keeps there promises and reopens Ashford international in 2026

[@belmmonkey]

Unfortunately this is an effect of Brexit. Ashford doesn’t have the capacity to manage the border control checks made obligatory by the departure from the EU.

[@goonerhill]

@@belmmonkey Not so much brexit, but i think it was always believed we would eventually join the schengen zone. pre brexit.

[@MrJimheeren]

Who would go to Ashfort anyway. It’s a five minute ride with Southeastern. No need for international trains to stop there. Not with all the extra security you need at that station

[@lazrseagull54]

​@@belmmonkeyAt Ashford, Eurostar was already stopping at seperate special platforms just for them, that you could only access by going through a passport check because the UK was never part of the Schengen zone.

[@lazrseagull54]

​​@@MrJimheerenwhat do you mean a 5 minute ride with southeastern? If you live in the southeast and are heading towards the continent, you now have to travel to Ashford, then make a 40 minute journey to London, where you can finally board Eurostar, which then takes you back to Ashford on the same line before continuing to the continent. This adds up to 2 hours to the journey each way, making a day trip or commute to Paris a serious headache.

[@vinucini4341]

Remember seeing this being built and exchanging flags on the TV 📺 in the 90s. It kept marvelling me over these decades. Today I am 43.

[@infohound41]

If they lower the prices and have better customer service they might do better.

[@volpedo2000]

With current ticket prices it has lost most of its competitiveness and the London terminus waiting area is an utter joke.

[@daneishere]

I really wish they would link HS2 to to the Eurostar network so you can go from Birmingham to Paris. Makes no sense that HS2 and HS1 are not linked!

[@robertaries2974]

This a million times over. If you could get on HS2 and get off into the continent then European rail would be open for all in the uk

[@robertaries2974]

Imagine being able to speed past London on trains to Europe

[@51StPi]

Stopped using it since they stopped selling tickets for UK stations. You now have to buy a separate ticket to London which leaves you out of pocket if your connection is late.

[@MrPeddapee]

The Agreement on Journey Continuation (Agreement on Journey Continuation - AJC. Doesn't any UK train operator has this guarantee?

[@hashbrown1392]

@@MrPeddapee What do you mean? In the UK, if you buy an off peak or anytime (flexible) ticket, you can get any train any time. If you buy advance (inflexible), you can only get the one you booked for but if it’s not your fault you miss a connection, you will be allowed to get the next possible train But that’s for the normal National Rail system. I don’t know how it works with Eurostar, that’s always been a special case to us

[@-someOnes-]

lol, every European person I talk to, that is dependent on Eurostar connections, hates the company so much.

[@sushifornico]

I hope that there could be a potential train berlin to London

[@robertaries2974]

German rail connections would be fabulous. However of course then we'd have to deal with DB delays

[@pandaDotDragon]

Eurostar prices are definitely too high, they milk everyone.

[@MaxPower-11]

The train has one more milestone to reach… Once the LGV Picardie line is built, London-Paris travel time will be under 2 hours.

[@CitronCassis]

Yes but we need more trains and cheaper prices first. It is too expensive today.

[@DINESH1983WONDERS]

Construct 45000Km of Bullet Train Tracks by 2045.

[@geoffreyhansen8543]

I traveled all the way from Australia to ride on the Eurostar.

[@Yamayorya]

It’s way too expensive unfortunately taking Eurostar from Cologne to London, costing 200€ only one way whereas the flight costs 60€ including luggage 😢

[@theDaNi0]

I am seeing prices of about €100 one way, if you book early.

[@Sacto1654]

If I remember correctly, the true Eurostar train sets (373 and 374) are only equipped to run on 25,000 V 50 Hz AC, 3,000 V DC and 1,500 V DC overhead power. That's the most common overhead power in the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Since there are no plans for these sets to go into Germany, they don't need support for 15,000 V 16.667 Hz AC overhead power.

[@puccaland]

Thatcher wanted it to be an underground express way for cars.

[@MrJimheeren]

Even worse. She wanted a bridge

[@thomasautengruber8369]

Good thing that didn‘t happen then

[@Hongaars1969]

Thank you for this excellent reporting.

[@chief1b]

I rode the Eurostar twice. I loved it 🥰

[@DavidShepheard]

The British government made foolish decisions building a terminal station at Waterloo International, a second terminal station at St Pancras and then not building a through station for London that connected HS2 to HS1. We could have had Eurostar services continuing through London to the UK's second city - Birmingham. And eventually, when the UK built more high speed rail, we could have had Eurostar trains running to Cardiff in Wales and Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland. An Irish Sea tunnel could also have eventually put Dublin and Belfast on the Eurostar network. That would be a long-term plan that would help both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. All four countries in the UK could be connected to Europe (and to each other) and the Republic of Ireland would also have connections to Europe. But none of this is possible without the cooperation of the UK government. And, unfortunately there are a number of bonkers politicians in the UK who are now so keen on spreading anti-European nonsense that we are going to need a big amount of railway campaigning on the UK side, to get the two closed Eurostar stations open and talk of Eurostar being more than a London-thing. In Europe itself, I also have to say it is very disappointing that Eurostar is running full trains with higher prices than air flights. We drastically need to move people away from aircraft and onto trains to reduce the damage being done by the climate emergency. The environment is far too important for things to be left under the control of a bunch of shareholders, who want to earn as much money as possible. The European Union Agency for Railways should own Eurostar and other railway services that cross multiple EU countries. The number of seats for international trains should be pushed up so that international flights between European countries can be banned. One good thing about Eurostar being controlled by Europe is that, if Eurostar services between Paris and London can increase capacity, the French government can then ban flights from airports near Paris to London and both Paris and London get cleaner air (with or without the cooperation of the UK government or the British Airports Authority). This is the long-term strategy that the EU needs to push for. But international train ticket prices need to drop in order to drain the airports of customers. The EU can do this by charging climate change tax to air passengers and using that tax to subsidise international railways.

[@Southlondonman]

Shame the newer rolling stock is so uncomfortable compared to the original.

[@Sjalabais]

Extending the Eurostar network to more of Urop only makes sense, but the prices are a real problem. This is true for much of rail travel, bar Germany's fantastic move to offer countrywide tickets - only on *slow* trains, though. We'll end up with a class divide where poor people use polluting planes.

[@schtormm]

The EU and the UK would do good if they got rid of their monopoly

[@fspg3207]

What garbage are you talking about.??

[@pranadprabhu2586]

​@@fspg3207Eurostar is a monopoly

[@physiocrat7143]

They need to fix Thalys, which Eurostar also operates. Horrible trains, horrible staff.

[@berberbro]

Did i just watch an advert?

[@runeodin7237]

I had that feeling too.

[@stickynorth]

One of the few projects that Ms. Thatcher conceived that was a roaring success. The Docklands Light Railway, London City Airport and Canary Wharf being the others... Otherwise, one of the worst British PM's of all time. What I'd like to see on the Eurostar is more Ouigo-like budget services so that all types of travelers can afford to use it!

[@kaikaiser92]

just give UK citizens Irish passports so they can travel as they did before and as a Scot Brexit was a stupid move. Scotland didn't vote to leave the EU!

[@rchatte100]

scotland wasn't a member of the EU.

[@melaniedrogr951]

@@rchatte100 it was, as a part of the uk, yet it had no say in the decision to leave

[@Matthew-p2h]

Scotland didn't vote at all. UK citizens in Scotland voted. Countries don't vote, citizens vote.

[@adrianduggan4739]

Why would the Irish government do that? What a ridiculous idea

[@LeoSpaceman69]

Oh but not paying for it lol

[@juandavidmartinezcaballero3014]

👏

[@smogmonster1876]

Not hat I was ever likely to use Eurostar being afraid of tunnels but increasing their prices when passenger numbers have increased seems pure greed to me. So I’ll go by ferry thanks.

[@puccaland]

Passengers have increased such as the maintenance, inflation, wages etc.

[@lewismelrose4334]

reopen ashford !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@sonnysantino7849]

Slow, dirty, expensive, inefficient,overpriced...shall I go on?

[@joshuahill6153]

Inefficient primarily because of brexit. Expensive because of the pandemic and dirty to cut costs.

[@physiocrat7143]

@@joshuahill6153 Nothing to do with Brexit. Eurostar runs Thalys, which is also expensive, inefficient, uncomfortable and staff with a bad attitude.

[@lazrseagull54]

​@@joshuahill6153it was already inefficient before brexit. The UK had border controls with the rest of the EU all the way through its membership. This means any stations served by trains going to the UK had to build special platforms that can only be accessed after passport control and those platforms then wouldn't be able to be used by any other trains. This is why we don't have direct trains from London to Germany, instead requiring everyone to change in Brussels.

[@chief1b]

I rode the Eurostar twice. I loved it 🥰