Gemini Trains has announced plans to run services between London and Cologne as early as 2030.
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The British startup, backed by a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund, looks set to end Eurostar’s monopoly of cross-channel rail travel.
Gemini Trains has also said it wants to run routes to Paris (with stops at Disneyland and Charles de Gaulle airport) and Brussels, and later expand to Frankfurt and Düsseldorf.
The London to Cologne journey will take about four hours, the company says. At the moment, the same trip can take up to six hours with at least one change.
Rather than basing itself at St Pancras station, which is already struggling to manage passenger traffic, Gemini intends to make Stratford International its main London hub.
Trains will also call at Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International in the UK, where Eurostar last stopped in 2020.
The startup plans to lease eight electric trains with the capacity for more than 550 passengers each, beginning with about 11 services a day by 2030.
Eurostar operates about 26 daily services from London, but Gemini has talked about “rapid expansion” once its fleet is up and running.
Tickets will use dynamic pricing, with introductory one-way fares to Paris from about £59 (€69).
Standard class will be equipped with “more comfortable seats, good wifi and mood lighting” and business class will offer food and a privacy screen, according to Business Matters magazine.
Adrian Quine, the chief executive of Gemini Trains, has described the company as “a disruptor operator which constantly challenges the status quo”.
“We will shake things up by offering new routes, new stations, new trains, new interiors, new cheaper fares and encouraging people to shift from plane to train,” he added.
Eurostar has been the Channel Tunnel’s sole passenger operator for more than 30 years, but currently only uses around 50% of the slots on the track.
Now, Gemini isn’t the only rail company moving in. Virgin Trains aims to launch services in 2030, initially from London St Pancras to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam, with longer-term plans to extend further into France, Germany, and Switzerland.
Italy’s Trenitalia and Spanish start-up Evolyn are also throwing their hat into the ring, with plans to operate on the London to Paris line.
Eurostar is not resting on its laurels, however. The operator has said it plans to connect the UK capital with cities in Germany by the early 2030s, in partnership with German state railway Deutsche Bahn.