Italy’s state-owned railway has announced a multi-million-euro order for new trains to serve a London-Paris route, marking an important step towards the diversification of Channel Tunnel train services and the end of Eurostar’s three-decade monopoly
The €2-billion deal between Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS Group), its subsidiary Trenitalia France, and Hitachi Rail, will see 19 new trains join FS Group’s fleet by 2029 ready to serve the new route, as well as boosting Trenitalia’s existing services from the Paris to Lyon, Marseille, and Milan.
The new trains will be equipped with “next-generation” Wi-Fi connectivity, an on-board bistro catering offer, and accommodation that the Group says will “provide an even more comfortable travel experience across all classes of service.”
The announcement of the order has been widely reported as putting FS Group ahead of rivals such as Evolyn and Virgin Trains in the race to occupy the long-standing gap in the Channel Tunnel market. The tunnel is currently operating at only around 50% of its capacity. Customer groups hope the additional services will bring down ticket prices, improve service quality, re-open closed stations, such as Ashford International in Kent, and increase itinerary choice.
The new trains are not the only piece of the puzzle that needs to be operational by 2029 however. An €80-million maintenance facility is in the pipeline for Maisons-Alfort Pompadour, just outside Paris. This will allow Trenitalia to overnight trains there, relieving the pressure on British storage depots. Just one Trenitalia train will remain in London at nighttime, ready for the first morning departure.
Gianpiero Strisciuglio, CEO of the FS Italiane Group, said the contract with Hitachi “represents a strategic step for the FS Group: it strengthens our presence in France, a key market for international growth, and supports the development of increasingly efficient, sustainable, and competitive high-speed services.”
Strisciuglio added that: “The new trains and the new maintenance hub at Maisons-Alfort Pompadour are also key elements for the launch of the Paris-London link, a central project in the vision of the ‘European Metro’, the integrated high-speed network that will increasingly connect Europe’s major cities.”
The European Metro concept stemmed from proposals such as those put forward by the think tank 21st Europe, which has driven forward proposals for a high-speed network comprising 39 major cities across 22 countries functioning like a unified metro system by 2040.
Also commenting on the deal, Hitachi Rail’s group chief executive officer Giuseppe Marino said it would “deliver high standards of sustainability, operational efficiency and cross-border interoperability, which are increasingly essential to support the growth of international rail traffic.”
