If you’re a bit of a wine enthusiast, you’ll certainly want to read what we’ve got in store for you today. Even more so if you’re living in the United Kingdom, because this announcement directly concerns any Brits wanting to visit France for a bit of a wine themed holiday. Why, you ask? Well, a new train is set to start running between London and the French city of Bordeaux – a direct route, taking you from one city to the other in about five hours’ time. In other words: if you’re fancying a good glass of wine during lunchtime, you could be having one in the Southwest of France by dinner.
Firstly, let’s not skip ahead of things. The route won’t be opening today nor tomorrow, but rumor has it it could well be established by 2026. Meaning you’ll still have to wait for a few years but even now, getting from London to Bordeaux isn’t that complicated: you just have to change trains in Paris. That being said, HSI chief exec Dyan Crowther, who’s in charge of the UK leg of the Channel Tunnel railway line, is aiming to make the journey a lot faster and more customer friendly within a couple of years.
A cleaner option
“We believe a direct high-speed rail route would facilitate the clear demand for travel between the UK and Bordeaux and help the market to grow further,” a spokesperson for HSI told The Drinks Businnes.
Other new international routes such as London-Amsterdam have demonstrated the potential for new rail offerings to create highly attractive pricing for a much greener offer.
HSI spokesperson
Calling all Bordeaux lovers from #London: you will soon be able to come and visit us on a new direct high-speed train line! 🎉 🚄 https://t.co/N5PmbOFaz5 #TopFrenchCities pic.twitter.com/NFapNm3Rzy
— Visit Bordeaux (@VisitBordeaux) May 4, 2018
Because yes, compared to a short-haul flight, a train passengers’ carbon footprint amounts to just 8% for the journey between London and Bordeaux. Moreover, given that the journey would take 5 hours from station to station and would take you to the city center, you wouldn’t even lose a lot of time compared to a short-haul flight.
At the moment, details aren’t clear yet and even though it is thought 2026 could be a potential launch date goal, nothing is certain at the moment. How many trains a day there would be and how much the journey would cost hasn’t been communicated either. What we do know, however, is that other possible routes are being studied, such as direct connections between London and Frankfurt, Cologne, Toulouse and even Marseille.
