The narratives regarding new competitors on the HS1 line from London to Europe is moving very quickly.
In recent months, we have reported on the plans from new operators Virgin Trains and Gemini trains to run trains on the route in competition with Eurostar.
This week it was reported that access to St Pancras for train maintenance will be possible for new operators, but more significantly, London St Pancras Highspeed (LSPH), which owns and operates the railway and stations from the capital to the Channel tunnel, has said it will cut charges for operators planning new routes.
LSPH were previously known as ‘HS1 Ltd’, but after all the negativity regarding HS2, they have rebranded.
Eurostar’s new branding
More services from Ebbsfleet and Ashford?
The company said they would lower costs for any and all additional international services, especially for services calling at intermediate stations – with the goal to attract services back to the stations at Ebbsfleet and Ashford which are no longer used by Eurostar.
The chief executive of LSPH, Robert Sinclair, said the incentive scheme, due to take effect from the end of May, was “groundbreaking”:
“Our ambition is to make rail the preferred mode of travel to Europe, and we know that high-speed rail can reduce carbon emissions by up to 96% compared with flying.”
Train operators who qualify will be entitled to discounts of up to 50% in year one, 40% in year two and 30% in year three.
Eurostar is charged about £7,600 to use the London to Folkestone track. This would equate to roughly a £2,000 reduction, with a smaller discount in the next two years.
London St Pancras
Only 50 of potential train paths are being used at present
It is estimated that the reductions could cost LSPH £40m-£60m from LSPH, although would equate to only a small proportion of the revenues it could generate from an increase in the number of services on the route.
LSPH said the track between St Pancras International and the Channel tunnel was effectively half-empty, with only 50% of potential train paths used.
Other plans for redevelopment at St Pancras include increasing the capacity from about 2,000 passengers an hour to nearly 5,000.
Reacting to St Pancras High Speed’s new incentive scheme Adrian Quine, CEO of Gemini Trains said:
“This will further strengthen our plan for competitively priced fares. We are now assessing whether this scheme will enable us to offer additional new routes.”
