Eurostar competitor Gemini has announced plans for a London to Cologne route by 2030, connecting the United Kingdom capital to a European city that Condé Nast Traveller calls “one of Germany’s most charming and culture-rich hotspots.”
The UK start-up first proposed the connection in 2025, when CEO Adrian Quine promised good value ticket prices and a progressive service, calling the Channel Tunnel “one of the great rail routes” for which growing demand provided “a great opportunity to bring real entrepreneurial flair and dynamism with competitive fares.”
Part of Gemini’s dynamism would include “new routes, new stations, new trains, new interiors, new cheaper fares and encouraging people to shift from plane to train,” Quine said.
Introductory prices are expected to see one-way fares to Paris at £59 (around €69). For Standard class passengers, the interior accommodation will include Wi-Fi and ambient lighting, while those in Business Class also benefit from food and a privacy screen.
Business Matters reports that Gemini Trains will at first operate a fleet of eight electric trains, with a capacity of 550 passengers each, on a route between London and Paris, including Disneyland and Charles de Gaulle airport, then onto Brussels, before “rapid expansion” to destinations such as Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. The London to Cologne trip would take about four hours, the company says, which shaves a third off the current non-direct journey time of six hours.
Demarcating itself from Eurostar and avoiding capacity pressures at St Pancras, Gemini is planning to operate out of Stratford International, with calls at Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International—a station that lost its Eurostar connection in 2020.
Eurostar at present only occupies about 50% of the Channel Tunnel’s slot capacity, and thanks to owner-operator London St Pancras Highspeed (LSPH) incentives, there are other rivals waiting in the wings. Spanish start-up Evolyn have proposed a London to Paris service; Italy’s Trenitalia too; and Virgin Trains is planning to launch a London St Pancras to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam route by 2030, with eyes on other French destinations and beyond, to Germany and Switzerland.
Eurostar is not taking these marketplace challenges lying down, with a spokesperson confirming “bold ambitions to grow to 30 million customers.” They have invested up to €2 billion in new Celestia double-decker trains from manufacturer Alstom and have been forging the groundwork for new routes to Frankfurt and Geneva, with a Memorandum of Understanding signed late with Deutsche Bahn (DB) in 2025.
