SPEEDING UP
Eurostar reveals future plans for trains from UK to Germany and Switzerland
And what to expect from the new EES and ETIAS Europe rules
THE boss of Eurostar has revealed their expansion plans across Europe just days after routes to Milan were put forward.
François Le Doze, the CCO of Eurostar, said they were on track to welcome 30million passengers by 2030.
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Having hit record passenger numbers last year, they have already confirmed plans for another 50 trains in the next five years.
And when it comes to new routes, two new countries could one day be connected.
He told "It’s also about injecting more capacity in the network across our destinations.
"We want to develop new destinations as well – probably into Germany but it could also be Switzerland.
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"We’re very ambitious in terms of how far we can go."
However, he admitted it requires much larger stations due to cross border checks, and didn't reveal what routes this could take to include the UK.
It comes just days after plans for seven new destinations from the UK were put forward.
Currently, Brits can travel to Paris and Lille by direct train, as well as Brussels, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
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But two suggestions in Germany include Cologne and Frankfurt.
Not only is Cologne just two hours from Brussels - making it an obvious addition to the route - but there was once a direct UK to Frankfurt route.
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Sadly this only ran in 2010 and was never continued.
When it comes to routes to Switzerland, both Zurich and and Geneva have previously been suggested,
However, these could be rather long routes from the UK, taking as long as seven hours.
Milan in Italy as well as Marseille and Bordeaux in France are also potential new routes.
Don't expect the Eurostar to return to Kent, however, as he also said it would require huge resources and funding.
Not only that, but passenger numbers are much lower - 16,000 a day compared to London St Pancras' 22,000 during peak season.
Mr Le Doze said: "[We] would need to invest a huge amount into installing new kiosks and training staff up for this location, which doesn’t make sense right now".
Around €10million (£8.5million) has already been invested in the new EES system at Kings Cross, ahead of the new European border rules.
The new biometric system will require all Brits travelling by air, train or ferry to register their passport, facial image and fingerprints.
While it hopes the checks will be as fast as 90 seconds, it is still feared it could cause huge queues when it launches.
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An official start date is yet to be confirmed, but hopes to be later this year.
And the ETIAS - a new visa wavier that Brits will need to visit Europe - isn't likely to start until early 2026.
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