London-Berlin direct by rail? Eurostar's rivals see chances across Channel and continent

Eurostar's rivals see chances across Channel and continent

- Gwyn Topham

What better places to underline the turning wheels of history? "The Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie," intoned the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander. "In just a matter of years, rail passengers in the UK could be able to visit these iconic sights - direct from the comfort of a train."

After a decade in which ministers sold off Britain's share in Eurostar and left the company teetering on the brink, international rail travel is back on the government's menu du jour. With Alexander announcing a bilateral agreement on rail with Germany last month, after a similar deal with Switzerland in May, long-lapsed ambitions for direct trains across the continent have revived.

Yet as in the cold war, vying to reach Checkpoint Charlie depends on the machinations of those working in the shadows in London; then MI6, now the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The rail regulator is to decide in the autumn how to allocate space in the solitary train depot that holds the key to a successful cross-Channel operation. A host of prospective rival companies want to move into the Temple Mills depot occupied by Eurostar, while the current operator also seeks room to run trains to Germany.

Rail historians will note that similar bold promises have been made before: in 2010 Deutsche Bahn announced plans for direct trains between Frankfurt and London, a scheme that disappeared into the sidings. Since then even existing offshoots - Disneyland, Avignon - have withered on the Eurostar vine. So what has given confidence that rail travel through the tunnel can flourish at last?

The stars are aligning in a number of ways, according to Gareth Williams, the general secretary of Eurostar. After dicing with extinction during the pandemic and post-Brexit border struggles, Eurostar is a bigger beast: merged with Thalys and targeting 30 million passengers a year, including on Franco-German routes that do not use the tunnel.