Never-implemented Eurostar services from north of London
One of the North of London Class 373/3 sets in GNER livery at London King's Cross
Regional Eurostar was a planned Eurostar train service from Paris and Brussels to locations in the United Kingdom to the north and west of London.
While the Channel Tunnel was being planned and constructed in the 1980s, the operation of Eurostar services across Britain was included in the plans. To this end, roughly £320 million was invested into railway infrastructure, including new railway interconnections, depots, and other facilities, as well as the procurement of a dedicated fleet of seven North of London, 14-coach British Rail Class 373/3 trainsets. Regional daytime services to Glasgow Central via the East Coast Main Line and Manchester Piccadilly via the West Coast Main Line, and Nightstar sleeper services to the same cities as well as Plymouth and Cardiff via the Great Western Main Line. Trial runs were undertaken using Class 373/2 sets on both the East and West Coast Main Lines in preparation for full-scale services being launched during the late 1990s.
However, various factors dampened the prospects for running such services. During the mid 1990s, British Rail was undergoing the complicated process of privatisation; the British Rail subsidiary European Passenger Services (EPS) was originally intended to operate the regional Eurostar. Responsibility was transferred to the private entity London and Continental Railways (LCR) yet the operator soon found that the inter-capital Eurostar services had achieved lower than forecast passenger numbers and promptly needed financial support. Whilst officially regional Eurostar services have not been cancelled but are on hold or under review, this status has been maintained for several decades. Both LCR and Virgin Rail Group had their proposals for regional Eurostar services reviewed by the Department for Transport and independent organisations. Ministers have objected to the failure to run such services.[1]
LCR has posited that further development of the British high speed rail network improves the economics of prospective regional Eurostar services; thus, the completion of schemes such as High Speed 2 may bring about such services finally.
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at Parliament Regarding RegionalEurostar". www.publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2008. "RegionalEurostar services: The Government's...
service alterations and innovations, including the leasing of Class 373 RegionalEurostars along with the refurbishment of the InterCity 225 fleet. However,...
international services stop at the station; plans for it to be served by Eurostar trains never came to fruition. The National Rail platforms are served by...
by Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel. The tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, LeShuttle services for road vehicles and freight trains...
already overhead electric wires on part of the route for freight and RegionalEurostar services, led to the change.[citation needed] Also in London, the...
East Coast Main Lines was proposed in the mid-1990s to be used for RegionalEurostar services, which would travel from the lines into Waterloo International...
plan to operate RegionalEurostar international train services from Manchester to Europe via the Channel Tunnel. By the time that Eurostar services became...
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service from London King's Cross to Leeds formed of a 16 carriage RegionalEurostar set ran with a prefix of 1X due to the train's unusually long length...
International in southern Kent. International passenger services are provided by Eurostar International, with journey times from London St Pancras International...
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other continental European destinations, realising the aims of the RegionalEurostar scheme, first proposed in the 1980s. Several possible solutions were...
services from mainland Europe to cities north of London, as part of the RegionalEurostar plan, which never came to fruition. The overnight Caledonian Sleeper...
Eurostar trains from Waterloo International used the West London line to access their North Pole depot. The line was crucial to the planned Regional Eurostar...
progress beyond concept stage. Additionally, RegionalEurostar proposals meant to send trains from Eurostar lines into Waterloo International station to...
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Transport Select Committee published its report into various matters including regional investment disparity on the railways and calling again for the reinstatement...
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route being planned at the time. They proposed connecting a number of regional stations such as Cambridge, Ipswich, Reading and Guildford via a new underground...
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