Several companies are currently making moves in a bid to end Eurostar’s decades long monopoly on cross-Channel rail services.
Among big names, such as Richard Branson’s Virgin, start-up Gemini Trains is an unusual competitor.
Their chief executive, Adrian Quine, told Metro that they want to move focus away from London St Pancras, and offer services from Stratford, East London, as well as from Ebbsfleet, Kent.
While Eurostar have long-since stated that they welcome competition, adding ‘we’re confident in our leadership’, boss Gwendoline Cazenave, has now shared her thoughts on some of her competitors’ grand plans — and why Stratford and Ebbsfleet is not on her vision board.
The CEO, who was appointed in October 2022, said that unlike Gemini Trains, Eurostar is ‘all about connecting major cities.’
‘We are about city centre to city centre,’ she told The Times, instead revealing that the Eurostar wants to offer direct services between major European cities with journeys that take no longer than five hours.
Cazenave added that the reason for this strategy was because Eurostar looks for ‘commercial centres. Big markets.’
While Cazenave seems unnerved by competitors, it’s clear to see why Stratford and Ebbsfleet seem like obvious departure stations outside of the capital’s centre.
Speaking to Metro, Gemini’s Quine shared the problems with travel from St Pancras: ‘Anybody who’s taken a [Eurostar] train out of St Pancras will know you’ve got the beauty of the terminal building, that canopy above, and then you’ve got the underbelly where you check in,’ he said. ‘It’s dingy, it’s crowded, and Stratford is a great alternative.’
Despite being named Stratford International, the station currently only serves domestic routes, but it’s set up with passport control, customs and Border force facilities, a hangover from previously scrapped Eurostar plans.
Contenders that could rival Eurostar
- Gemini / Uber Trains
- Richard Branson’s Virgin Group
- Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane
- Evolyn
- London St Pancras High Speed
Meanwhile, located just off the M25, Ebbsfleet International offers extensive parking facilities and is easily accessible via regional rail services, making it an ideal departure point for travellers from outside London.
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Gemini have said they see Ebbsfleet as a ‘parkway’ for European travel. It’s fully equipped and ready to go, with passport control and security services that were last used by Eurostar in 2020, suspended during COVID.
For now, Gemini continues to push ahead with its plans to launch a cross-Channel service.
This month, the company announced that they will be partnering with Siemens, to deliver a fleet of 10 high-speed trains for services to Europe.
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