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Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service in Western Europe, connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
The service is operated by the Eurostar Group which was formed from the merger of Eurostar, which operated trains through the Channel Tunnel to the United Kingdom, and Thalys which operated in Western Europe.
Eurostar transported 19.5million passengers in 2024. The operator is exploring future network expansions and aims to double passenger numbers by 2030.
In addition to the tunnel's shuttle trains carrying cars and lorries between Folkestone and Calais, the tunnel opened up the possibility of through passenger and freight train services between places further afield. British Rail and France's SNCF contracted with Eurotunnel to use half the tunnel's capacity for this purpose. In 1987, Britain, France and Belgium set up an International Project Group to specify a train to provide an international high-speed passenger service through the tunnel. France had been operating high-speed TGV services since 1981, and had begun construction of a new high-speed line between Paris and the Channel Tunnel, LGV Nord; French TGV technology was chosen as the basis for the new trains. An order for 30 trainsets, to be manufactured in France but with some British and Belgian components, was placed in December 1989. On 20 June 1993, the first Eurostar test train travelled through the tunnel to the UK. Various technical difficulties in running the new trains on British tracks were quickly overcome.
In 1995, Eurostar was achieving an average end-to-end speed of from London to Paris. On 8 January 1996, Eurostar launched services from a second railway station in the UK when Ashford International was opened.
Also in 1996, Eurostar commenced its year-round service from London to Disneyland with the first train running on 29 June. The following year saw the introduction of services to the French Alps during the winter.
On 20 July 2002 a summer seasonal service from London to Avignon-Centre was launched. The service ran until 2014 after which it was replaced on 1 May 2015 by an expanded service calling at Avignon TGV and also serving Lyon and Marseille.
On 23 September 2003, passenger services began running on the first completed section of High Speed 1. Following a high-profile glamorous opening ceremony and a large advertising campaign, on 14 November 2007, Eurostar services in London transferred from Waterloo to the extended and extensively refurbished London St Pancras International.
Direct services from London to Amsterdam (returning to Brussels only) were launched on 4 April 2018. This service was made a return service on 26 October 2020.
On 30 July 2003, a Eurostar train set a new British speed record of on the first section of the "High Speed 1" railway between the Channel Tunnel, and Fawkham Junction in north Kent, two months before official public services began running.
On 16 May 2006, Eurostar set a new record for the longest non-stop high-speed journey, a distance of from London to Cannes taking 7hours 25minutes.
On 4 September 2007, a record-breaking train left Paris Nord at 10:44 (09:44BST) and reached London St Pancras International in 2hours 3minutes 39seconds, carrying journalists and railway workers. This record trip was also the first passenger-carrying arrival at the new London St Pancras International station. On 20 September 2007, Eurostar broke another record when it completed the journey from Brussels to London in 1hour 43minutes.
Seven 14-coach "North of London" Eurostar trains for these Regional Eurostar services were built, but these services never came to fruition. Predicted journey times of almost nine hours for Glasgow to Paris at the time of growth of low-cost air travel during the 1990s made the plans commercially unviable against the cheaper and quicker airlines. Other reasons that have been suggested for these services having never been run were both government policies and the disruptive privatisation of British Rail. Three of the Regional Eurostar units were leased by Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) to increase domestic services from London King's Cross to York and later Leeds. The lease expired in December 2005, and most of the North of London sets were transferred to SNCF for TGV services in northern France.
An international Nightstar sleeper train was also planned; this would have travelled the same routes as Regional Eurostar, plus the Great Western Main Line to . These were also deemed commercially unviable, and the scheme was abandoned with no services ever operated. In 2000, the coaches were sold to Via Rail in Canada.
Thalys assisted Eurostar with onward connections between Amsterdam and Brussels, and to provide the Amsterdam to London service, in lieu of passport and customs checks at Amsterdam Centraal station.
In September 2020, the merger between Thalys and Eurostar International was confirmed, a year after Thalys announced its intention to merge with the cross-Channel provider subject to gaining European Commission clearance, to form "Green Speed". SNCF and SNCB already hold a controlling shareholding in Eurostar. In October 2021, it was announced that, following the completion of the merger, the Thalys brand would be discontinued, with all of the new operation's services to be operated under the Eurostar name but with each service's own liveries.
In October 2023, the Eurostar brand replaced Thalys, operating as one network and combining ticket sales in a single system.
By the end of 2022, Eurostar had debts of €964m, following French bailouts and commercial loans. Ridership levels returned to around 8million in 2022, however this figure was still 3million below 2019 levels. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Eurostar has not served the Ashford International or Ebbsfleet International stations in the UK, or Calais Frethun in France, and has withdrawn its Disneyland Paris and Avignon services, as part of plans to focus on the most profitable routes.
In February 2018, Eurostar announced the start of its long-planned service from London to Amsterdam, with an initial two trains per day from April of that year running between London St Pancras International and Amsterdam Centraal. This launched as a one-way service, with return trains carrying passengers to Rotterdam and Brussels Midi/Zuid, making a 28-minute stop (which was not deemed long enough to process UK-bound passengers) and then carrying different passengers from Brussels to London. Initially passengers travelling back took a Thalys service to Brussels Midi/Zuid where they could join the Eurostar. This was due to the lack of facilities for juxtaposed controls by the UK Border Force at Amsterdam Centraal and Rotterdam Centraal. On 4 February 2020, the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, and the UK Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, announced that juxtaposed controls would be established at Amsterdam Centraal and Rotterdam Centraal. The direct train from Amsterdam was originally due to launch on 30 April 2020, and from Rotterdam on 18 May 2020, although it was later postponed to 26 October 2020 for both cities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 14 November 2007, all Eurostar trains have been routed via High Speed1 to or from the redeveloped London terminus at London St Pancras International, which at a cost of £800million was extensively rebuilt and extended to cope with long Eurostar trains. It had been intended to retain some Eurostar services at Waterloo International, but this was ruled out on cost grounds. Completion of High Speed1 increased the potential number of trains serving London. Separation of Eurostar from British domestic services through Kent meant that timetabling was no longer affected by peak-hour restrictions.
Eurostar has two sub-classes of first class: Standard Premier and Business Premier; benefits include guaranteed faster checking-in and meals served at-seat, as well as the improved furnishings and interior of carriages. The rebranding is part of Eurostar's marketing drive to attract more business professionals. Increasingly, business people in a group have been chartering private carriages as opposed to individual seats on the train.
Eurostar has announced several partnerships with other rail services, most notably Thalys connections at Lille and Brussels for passengers to go beyond current Eurostar routes towards the Netherlands and Germany. In 2002, Eurostar initiated the Eurostar-Plus program, offering through-tickets for onward journeys from Lille and Paris to dozens of destinations in France.
Through-tickets are also available from 68 British towns and cities to destinations in France and Belgium.
In May 2009 Eurostar announced that a formal connection to Switzerland had been established in a partnership between Eurostar and TGV Lyria, which will operate TGV services from Lille to the Swiss Alps for Eurostar connection.
In May 2019, Eurostar ended its agreement with Deutsche Bahn that allowed passengers to travel on a through-ticket by train from the UK via Brussels to Germany and further to Austria and Switzerland. Under the agreement, passengers could travel on a single through-ticket with passenger rights in case of disruption of one train. However, the through-tickets ceased to be sold from 9 November 2019.
To allow passengers to walk off the train without arrival checks in most cases, juxtaposed controls ordinarily take place at the embarkation station.
To comply with UK law, there are full security checks similar to those at airports, consisting of bag X-rays and walk-through metal detectors. The recommended check-in time is 90–120minutes except for business class where it is 45–60minutes; these are much longer than previously because of extra checks in place due to Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eurostar passengers travelling within the Schengen area on trains towards London bypass border checks, and enter the pre-allocated cars at the rear of the train, which are reserved for these passengers. This area is then searched at Lille and all passengers removed. This arrangement was set up after numerous people entered the UK without prior authorisation, by buying a ticket from Brussels to Lille or Calais but remaining on the train until London – an issue exacerbated by Belgian police threatening to arrest UK Border Agency staff at Brussels-South if they tried to prevent passengers whom they suspected of attempting to exploit this loophole from boarding Eurostar trains. Travel from Calais or Lille towards Brussels and the Netherlands has no border or security control. On 7 July 2020, a modified agreement was signed in Brussels that includes The Netherlands in the previous agreement. This allows for juxtaposed controls in Amsterdam and Rotterdam like those in Brussels and Paris.
When the tripartite agreements were signed, the Belgian Government said that it had serious questions about the compatibility of this agreement with the Schengen Convention and the principle of free movement of people enshrined in various European treaties. Document législatif du Sénat belge n°1-396/1, Déclarations du Gouvernement belge . Belgian Senate. 23 July 1996
On 30 June 2009, Eurostar raised concerns at the UK House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee that it was illegal under French law to collect the information required by the UK government under the Border control scheme, and the company would be unable to cooperate.
On the northbound Disneyland and ski trains, the security check and French passport check took place at the origin, while the UK passport check took place at the UK arrival stations. These were the only routes where passengers are not cleared by UK border officials before crossing the Channel.
On the northbound Marseille-London train, there was no facility for security or passport checks at the southern French stations, so passengers left the train at Lille-Europe, taking all their belongings with them, and underwent security and border checks there before rejoining the train which waited at the station for just over an hour.
On several occasions, people have tried to stow away illegally on board the train, sometimes in large groups, trying to enter the UK; border monitoring and security is therefore extremely tight. Eurostar claims to have good and well-funded security measures.
An advantage held by Eurostar is the convenience and speed of the service: with shorter check-in times than at most airports and hence quicker boarding and less queueing and high punctuality, it takes less time to travel between central London and central Paris by high-speed rail than by air.
Eurostar has a dominant share of the combined rail–air market on a number of its routes, notably its legacy links. On London-Paris, it now has 80-90% of the market, up from 66% in 2004 and 71% in 2007. On London-Brussels, it now has 80% of the market up from 59% in 2004, and 65% in 2007. On the historic Thalys routes, it has a dominant position on Paris-Amsterdam (80%), and had a dominant position on point-to-point journeys between Paris and Brussels/West Germany (80%) as of 2014. This dominant position may shift as competitors enter the market.
Eurostar's passenger numbers initially failed to meet predictions. In 1996, London and Continental Railways forecast that passenger numbers would reach 21.4million annually by 2004, but only 7.3million was achieved. Eighty-two million passengers used Waterloo International Station from its opening in 1994 to its closure in 2007. 2008 was a record year for Eurostar, with a 10.3% rise in passenger use, which was attributed to the use of High Speed 1 and the move to London St Pancras International. The following year, Eurostar saw an 11.5% fall in passenger numbers during the first three months of 2009, attributed to the 2008 Channel Tunnel fire and the Great Recession.
As a result of the poor economic conditions, Eurostar received state aid in May 2009 to cancel out some of the accumulated debt from the High Speed 1 construction programme. Later that year, during snowy conditions in the run-up to Christmas, thousands of passengers were left stranded as several trains broke down and many more were cancelled. In an independent review commissioned by Eurostar, the company came in for serious criticism about its handling of the incident and lack of plans for such a scenario.
In 2006, the Department for Transport predicted that, by 2037, annual cross-channel passenger numbers would probably reach 16million, considerably less optimistic than London and Continental Railways's original 1996 forecast. In 2007 Eurostar set a target of carrying 10million passengers by 2010. The company cited several factors to support this objective, such as improved journey times, punctuality and station facilities. Passengers in general, it stated, are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental effects of air travel, and Eurostar services emit much less carbon dioxide. and that its remaining carbon emissions are now Carbon offset, making its services carbon neutral. Further expansion of the high-speed rail network in Europe, such as the HSL-Zuid line between Belgium and the Netherlands, continues to bring more destinations within rail-competitive range, giving Eurostar the possibility of opening up new services in future.
The following chart presents the estimated number of passengers annually transported by the Eurostar service since 1995:
In 2019, cumulative ridership since 1994 surpassed 200million. Eurostar transported 19.5million passengers in 2024, the highest ever, surpassing the pre-pandemic high in 2019.
Eurostar won the Train Operator of the Year award in the HSBC Rail Awards for 2005. In 2006, Eurostar's Environment Group was set up, with the aim of making changes in the Eurostar services' daily running to decrease negative environmental impact. The organisation set itself a target of reducing carbon emissions per passenger journey by 25% by 2012. Drivers were trained in techniques to achieve maximum energy efficiency, and lighting was minimised; the provider of the bulk of the energy for the Channel Tunnel was switched to nuclear power stations in France. Eurostar's target was to reduce emissions by 35 per cent per passenger journey by 2012, putting itself beyond the efforts of other railway companies in this field and thereby winning the 2007 Network Rail Efficiency Award. In the grand opening ceremony of London St Pancras International, one of the Eurostar trains was given the name 'Tread Lightly', said to symbolise their smaller impact on the environment compared to planes. By 2008, Eurostar's environmental credentials had become highly developed and promoted.
Since then, Eurostar has received multiple awards. It was declared the Best Train Company in the joint The Guardian/The Observer Travel Awards 2008 and earned a spot on the Sunday Times' Best Green Companies List (2009). Other awards include: ICARUS’ Environmental Award for Best Rail Provider (2009), Guardian & Observer Travel Award for Best Train Company (2009), Travel Weekly's Golden Globes Award for Best Rail Operator (2010), World Travel Market's Responsible Tourism Award for Best Low Carbon Initiative (2011), TNT Magazine's Gold Backpack Award for Favourite Travel Transport (2012), World Travel Awards Europe's Leading Passenger Rail Operator (2011), National Rail Awards Train of the Year (2017), PETA's Travel Award for Best Travel Experience (2019), Mobile Industry Awards' Distributor of the Year (2020).
In 2019, Eurostar removed all single-use plastics from its trains between London and Paris. Now the trains serve only wooden cutlery, recyclable cans of water, glass wine bottles, paper-based coffee cups, and eco-friendly food packaging. Eurostar partnered with the Woodland Trust, ReforestAction, and Trees for All in 2020, with the goal of planting 20,000 trees each year in woodlands along its routes across the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Since Tread Lightly launched, Eurostar has reduced its carbon footprint by over 40% and now emits up to 90% less greenhouse gas emissions than the equivalent flight.
But in 2023 cycle booking was described as “farcical”.
| Eurostar e300 | 300 | 186 | 2 power cars + 18 coaches | 11 | 1992–1996 | ||||
| Eurostar e320 | 320 | 200 | 8 self-propelled coaches & 8 non-powered coaches | 17 | 2011–2018 | ||||
| PBA | 320 | 200 | 2 power cars + 8 coaches | 9 | 4532–4540 | 1996 | |||
| PBKA | 17 | 1997 |
Each train has a unique four-digit number starting with "3" (3xxx). This designates the train as a Mark 3 TGV (Mark 1 being SNCF TGV Sud-Est; Mark 2 being SNCF TGV Atlantique). The second digit denotes the country of ownership:
The trains are essentially modified TGV sets, and can operate at up to on high-speed lines, and in the Channel Tunnel. It is possible to exceed the 300km/h speed limit, but only with special permission from the safety authorities in the respective country. Speed limits in the Channel Tunnel are dictated by air-resistance, energy (heat) dissipation and the need to be used with other, slower trains. The trains were designed with Channel Tunnel safety in mind, and consist of two independent "half-sets" each with its own power car. In the event of a serious fire on board while travelling through the tunnel, passengers would be transferred into the undamaged half of the train, which would then be detached and driven out of the tunnel to safety. If the undamaged part were the rear half of the train, this would be driven by the Chef du Train (conductor), who is a fully authorised driver and occupies the rear driving cab while the train travels through the tunnel for this purpose.
As the Class 374 units have entered service the Class 373 fleet has gradually been reduced. Eleven remain in regular service with 17 scrapped and ten in storage.
In 2008, Eurostar announced that it would be carrying out a mid-life refurbishment of its Class 373 trains to allow the fleet to remain in service beyond 2020. This will include the 28 units making up the Eurostar fleet, but not the three Class 373/1 units used by SNCF or the seven Class 373/2 "North of London" sets. As part of the refurbishment, the Italian company Pininfarina was contracted to redesign the interiors, and The Yard Creative was selected to design the new buffet cars. On 11 May 2009 Eurostar revealed the new look for its first-class compartments. The first refurbished train was due in service in 2012, and Eurostar planned to complete the entire process by 2014. On 13 November 2014 Eurostar announced the first refurbished trains would not re-enter the fleet until the 3rd or 4th quarter of 2015 due to delays at the completion centre. The last refurbished e300 eventually re-entered service in April 2019.
On 7 October 2010, it was reported that Eurostar had selected Siemens as preferred bidder to supply 10 Siemens Velaro trainsets at a cost of €600million These would be sixteen-car, self-propelled, trainsets built to meet Channel Tunnel requirements. The top speed of the e320 trainsets is with 902 seats, compared to the e300 fleet which has a top speed of and a seating capacity of 750. Total traction power will be rated at . The e320 trainsets would also be quadri-current, adding the ability to run on the system used in Germany, allowing for an expanded route network, including services between London and Cologne.
The selection of Siemens would see it break into the French high-speed market for the first time, as all French high-speed operators use TGV derivatives produced by Alstom. Alstom attempted legal action to prevent Eurostar from acquiring the German-built trains, claiming that the Siemens sets would breach Channel Tunnel safety rules, but the case was thrown out by the High Court in London. On 4 November 2010, Alstom lodged a complaint with the European Commission over the tendering process. Alstom then started legal action claiming that the Eurostar tender process was "ineffective", the High Court rejected the second suit in July 2011. In April 2012, Alstom said it would call off court actions against Siemens.
On 13 November 2014, Eurostar announced the purchase of an additional seven e320s for delivery in the second half of 2016. At the same time, Eurostar announced the first five e320s from the original order of ten would be available by December 2015, with the remaining five entering service by May 2016. Of the five sets ready by December 2015, three of them were planned to be used on London-Paris and London-Brussels routes.
In an interview with Eurostar's former Chief Executive Nicolas Petrovic in the Financial Times in May 2012, an intention for cross-Channel Eurostar to serve ten new destinations was expressed, including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Cologne, Lyon, Marseille and Geneva, along with a likely second hub to be created in Brussels. London-Amsterdam services launched in 2018.
In 2025, Eurostar announced that the purchase of 50 new trains would also allow for the creation of new routes by the early 2030s, including direct services from London to Frankfurt, from London to Geneva, and from Amsterdam/Brussels to Geneva.
In March 2016, in an interview with Bloomberg, Eurostar's Chief Executive expressed interest in operating a direct train service between London and Bordeaux. Journey time was said to be around 4.5hours using the new LGV Sud Europe Atlantique.
The difficulties that Eurostar faces in expanding its services between the UK and the EU would also be faced by any potential competitors to Eurostar. Trains must use platforms that are physically isolated, a constraint which other intra-EU operators do not face. In addition, the British authorities are required to make security and passport checks on passengers before they board the train, which might deter domestic passengers. Compounding the difficulties in providing a similar service are the Channel Tunnel safety rules, the major ones being the "half-train rule" and the "length rule". The "half-train rule" stipulated that passenger trains had to be able to split in an emergency. Class 373 trains were designed as two half-sets, which when coupled form a complete train, enabling them to be split easily in the event of an emergency while in the tunnel, with the unaffected set able to be driven out. The half-train rule was finally abolished in May 2010. However, the "length rule", which states that passenger trains must be at least long with a through corridor (to match the distance between the safety doors in the tunnel), was retained, preventing any potential operators from applying to run services with existing fleets, as the majority of both TGV and ICE trains are only long.
Deutsche Bahn (DB) intended to run services between London to Frankfurt and Amsterdam (two of the biggest air travel markets in Europe), with trains 'splitting & joining' in Brussels. In July 2010, DB announced that it intended to make a test run with a high-speed ICE-3MF train through the Channel Tunnel in October 2010 in preparation for possible future operations. The trial ran on 19 October 2010 with a Class 406 ICE train specially liveried with a British "Union flag" decal. The train was then put on display for the press at London St Pancras International. However, this was not the class of train planned for the proposed service, instead proposing to use Class 407 ICE units, specially adapted for stronger Channel Tunnel safety standards.
DB scrapped the plan, mainly due to advance passport check requirements. DB had hoped that immigration checks could be done on board, but British authorities required immigration and security checks to be done at Lille-Europe station, taking at least 30minutes.
In 2021, Renfe, the national operator of Spain announced it was proposing competing London to Paris services. In 2022, Getlink, the owner of the Channel Tunnel had reportedly considered purchasing trains suitable for competing services, leasing them to rival operations, while in 2023, Mobico Group, the owner of National Express has also been reported to be considering cross-Channel services named 'Evolyn'.
Key pieces of infrastructure still belong to LCR via its subsidiary London & Continental Stations and Property, such as the Manchester International Depot, and Eurostar (UK) still owns several track access rights and the rights to paths on both the East Coast Main Line and the West Coast Main Line. While no announcement has been made of plans to start Regional Eurostar services, it remains a possibility for the future. In the meantime, the closest equivalent to Regional Eurostar services are same-station connections with East Midlands Railway and Thameslink, changing at London St Pancras. The construction of a new concourse at the adjacent London King's Cross improved interchange with London St Pancras and provided London North Eastern Railway, Great Northern, Hull Trains and Grand Central services with easier connections to Eurostar.
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