Channel tunnel operator seeks competition for Eurostar

The Getlink group, which operates the tunnel under the English Channel, is considering buying high-speed trains to rent from railway companies wishing to cover the route with England, such as Spain's Renfe, its president Jacques Gounon said Friday.

The entry into service of these trains “could” take place “in 2026", Gounon estimated before the Association of Transport and Mobility Journalists. The only condition is that Getlink's treasury is on positive ground.

A supplier of railway rolling stock (“rolling stock company”) would buy trains from the German manufacturer Siemens for “40 million euros” ($44.1 million) per unit, before renting them to an operator, he said.

Negotiations are currently more advanced with the Spanish railway company Renfe, which is interested in the Paris-London line to end the Eurostar monopoly, he said.

The goal is to transport an additional “2 to 3 million passengers” per year across La Mancha, that is to say "20%" more of the traffic recorded before the covid-19 crisis, Gounon said.

The former Eurotunnel group recorded net losses of 229 million euros (252 million dollars) in 2021 and 113 million euros (125 million dollars) in 2020.

jnb/tjc/eg