The contest to provide competing services through the Channel Tunnel is warming up. A new contender has been announced, led by a long-standing critic of HS2.

Gemini Trains has applied to the Office of Rail and Road for an open access licence to operate between London and Paris, with other routes planned to follow. Gemini has also applied for access rights to the Temple Mills Eurostar depot in east London, which is already at the centre of a dispute with another international open access contender.

Trains started running through the Channel Tunnel in 1994, and the route became open access in 2010 as a result of a chnage in general EU policy affecting international routes.

Although Deutsche Bahn expressed an interest in the same year, there have been no competing services through the Tunnel so far.

More recently interest in competing with Eurostar has been revived, and the latest indication had come from Virgin Trains earlier this month. Virgin did not deny reports that it is seeking to raise £700 million for potential routes between London and cities like Paris and Brussels.

Spanish Evolyn has also unveiled a proposal to start services linking London and Paris, using Alstom rolling stock.

Gemini is being led by its chair Lord Tony Berkeley, who has been a critic of HS2 for many years.

He said: ‘Our team has real strength, depth, vision and dynamism and is superbly placed to offer customers choice on what is currently a monopoly route.’

His colleague, CEO Adrian Quine, added: ‘The high-speed line connecting London and the continent through the Channel Tunnel is one of the great rail routes. With a whole new generation now choosing trains over planes, there is a great opportunity to bring real entrepreneurial flair and dynamism with competitive fares to Europe's premier route.’

The owners of the HS1 concession, London St Pancras Highspeed, signed a memorandum of understanding with Eurotunnel’s parent company Getlink last month, in what was being described as a ‘landmark partnership’ intended to increase the growth of cross-Channel traffic, possibly adding services to Germany and Switzerland. The number of international passengers through St Pancras could be tripled.

Readers’ comments

When will operators go to more destinations in France to compete with Eurostar? There are so many other destinations to go to, for example the mountains, the Mediterranean, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, where you can reduce the use of the plane. It’s easy to do this. Also we need more trains to connect with European services from all over the UK. With joined up thinking on electrification projects, this would be achievable.

Hugo, Berkshire

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