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Eurostar is to start running doubledecker trains through the Channel tunnel to meet growing demand for international rail travel from the UK.
The rail operator announced it had signed a €2bn (£1.7bn) deal for at least 30 – and up to 50 – new trains from the manufacturer Alstom.
The doubledeckers will start operating from 2031, with each able to carry more than 1,000 passengers.
Eurostar said the Celestia trains, the first doubledeckers to run on the UK mainland, would have about 20% more seats than its biggest existing trains. Some of the extra space would be taken up by stairs, but it would also be used for wheelchairs, bicycles, additional legroom and “surprises”, it said.
The SNCF-owned operator plans to maintain the entire fleet at the Temple Mills depot in north-east London, which it hopes to redevelop with a further €80m investment, creating 350 jobs.
The announcement comes as the UK regulator, the Office of Rail and Road, is preparing to announce a critical decision on whether Eurostar should make space at Temple Mills for a competitor.
A number of other interested international high-speed rail operators, including Virgin, FS Italiane (Trenitalia, partnering with Spanish firm Evolyn) and Gemini have bid for the depot space, which Eurostar says is not feasible given its own expansion plans.
Last week, FS Italiane pledged its cross-Channel services would call at Ashford, Kent if successful, after ministers urged the ORR to favour bids that reopened disused UK high-speed stations.
Eurostar’s chief executive, Gwendoline Cazenave, said the timing of its train order announcement was a coincidence, as it continued to bounce back to growth after years of decline.
She said: “Placing this milestone order marks the concrete realisation of Eurostar’s ambitious growth strategy: to reach 30 million passengers by investing in a brand-new fleet. We’re particularly proud to bring doubledecker trains to the UK for the very first time.
“Customers can expect a very special new train with Eurostar Celestia, which will offer exceptional comfort, a unique Eurostar experience and new surprises to be revealed.”
The chief executive of manufacturer Alstom, Henri Poupart-Lafarge, said: “This new-generation train, designed to meet the demands of international very high-speed traffic, embodies our vision of sustainable and competitive European mobility.”
The trains will be able to operate throughout Eurostar’s network, including to its planned destinations of Frankfurt and Geneva. It will phase out its older trains, bar the 17 latest e320s, making its total fleet about 30% bigger once all 50 trains are delivered.
Cazenave said the order was long in the making, and Britain needed to increase its capacity for international rail, regardless of the imminent depot decision. She said: “Obviously, in the UK it’s a key milestone … but when I look at the demand, the way the market is pushing, what we are really pushing for is for the UK to find solutions for sustainable travel expansion between the UK and continent of Europe.
“You need private investment, as in the €2bn we’re putting on the table. But you also need a public transport policy, and investments in space. We need to find solutions for space for maintaining trains and we need also to find solutions for St Pancras,” the London passenger terminus.
Virgin has also signed a deal with Alstom, to buy 12 Avelia high-speed trains – a type currently in use in Italy and Sweden – should the regulator grant it depot space. The ORR is understood to have made a provisional decision at a board meeting on Tuesday, and is due to confirm it by 31 October.
