Cliff Notes
- Eurostar plans to introduce direct services from London to Frankfurt and Geneva by the early 2030s, with journeys taking approximately five to five and a half hours.
- The new routes will be serviced by a £1.7bn fleet of 50 trains, though details on stops and onboard access remain undecided.
- Despite challenges like station capacity and border checkpoints, Eurostar’s chief executive expresses confidence in demand for sustainable travel among leisure and business travellers.
To Germany or Switzerland? You’ll soon be able to take the train
Eurostar has announced plans to launch direct services from London to Germany and Switzerland.
Chief executive Gwendoline Cazenave said “a new golden age of international sustainable travel is here” as the operator announced its proposals to run trains between London St Pancras and both Frankfurt and Geneva from the “early 2030s”.
The journey would take about five hours between London and Frankfurt, and five hours and 20 minutes between London and Geneva, with a fleet of 50 new trains costing about £1.7bn (€2bn) serving these routes.
Eurostar has not yet decided what stops the services on the new routes would make, such as Cologne for trains to or from Frankfurt, and whether passengers would be able to get on and off en route.
Ms Cazenave said she expects a strong demand from leisure and business travellers for direct services to “big financial hubs” Frankfurt and Geneva, as many passengers are prepared to choose longer train journeys over flying to “travel more sustainably”.
Before the new services could launch, several hurdles must be overcome, like creating sufficient passenger space at those stations, installing new border checkpoints, and securing access to tracks.
While opening the new routes will require “time, investments, expertise, a huge amount of energy and partnerships”, Ms Cazenave said, she has “no doubt” the services will happen due to the “willingness” of Eurostar, passengers and governments.
Eurostar also announced a fourth daily return service between St Pancras and Amsterdam from September 9, and a fifth from mid-December.
The company has a total of 17 trains in operation, and the new fleet for the services to Germany and Switzerland would enable it to boost existing routes, such as increasing its daily return frequencies between London and Paris from 17 to 20.
It currently runs services from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam and the French Alps during the ski season, as well as trains within Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
The operator carried 19.5 million passengers in 2024, which is a 5% increase from the year before.