Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishFor three decades Eurostar has held a monopoly in running passenger train services through the Channel Tunnel since it opened in 1994.But five companies are now bidding to compete with the operator amid hopes the UK could eventually get direct services to Germany, Switzerland and Italy.Gemini Trains this week became the fifth company to reveal plans in recent years as it unveiled proposals to operate trains connecting London with Paris and Brussels.The firm, chaired by Labour peer Lord Berkeley, also listed Ebbsfleet in Kent as one of its possible stations – after Eurostar stopped calling there in March 2020.Gemini, which said it hoped to offer ‘economy and business seats at a competitive price to Eurostar’, added that ‘further exciting destinations’ are ‘being developed’.Spanish start-up company Evolyn and billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group are also developing proposals to launch services to rival Eurostar.Swiss national railways (SBB) is working on a new five-hour service between St Pancras and Basel, while Dutch start-up Heuro also hopes to launch a rival service.Gemini said it has been developing plans to launch international services over the last two years, and has been ‘engaging extensively with industry stakeholders’. A Eurostar e320 high-speed train heading towards France through Ashford in Kent in 2021
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Passengers at London St Pancras on March 7 after Eurostar trains to the capital were halted following the discovery of an unexploded Second World War bomb near the tracks in Paris Gemini Trains says it wants to operate trains connecting London with Paris and Brussels Gemini is chaired by Labour peer Lord Berkeley and has been working on the idea since 2023It added that it has submitted an application to regulator the Office of Rail and Road for access to Eurostar’s Temple Mills maintenance depot in Leyton, East London.Reacting to the news, France-based independent railway policy analyst Jon Worth wrote in The i Paper : ‘The appeal of more long-distance trains through the Channel Tunnel is obvious. How Eurostar network could be expanded Existing Eurostar stops from LondonLilleParisBrusselsAmsterdamRotterdamBourg-Saint-Maurice (winter only)Possible future direct routesBordeauxCologneFrankfurtGenevaLyonMarseilleMilanZurichStations on route not currently servedStratfordAshfordEbbsfleet ‘Even now, 30 years after the opening of the tunnel, long-distance high-speed traffic is below forecasts from the 1990s.’And the dent the Covid pandemic put in Eurostar’s finances has led to a reduction in services and a hike in prices for tickets with the monopoly operator.’So, it is no surprise that entrepreneurs look at long distance traffic through the Channel Tunnel, and in particular the connection between western Europe’s two largest cities, Paris and London, and see opportunities. There should be money to be made challenging the sole incumbent that may have become a little complacent over the years.’But he pointed out there are ‘massive’ hurdles including buying a fleet of trains; the cost and complexity of building passport control facilities for services into Europe; and a continuing battle over whether a rival to Eurostar will be able to access Temple Mills Depot.Thomas Wintle, editor of RailTech.com, added that Gemini may have an ‘edge over its competitors’.He wrote: ‘Berkeley’s colleagues – he himself is a long-serving Labour peer and highly influential in UK rail policy, having served on multiple parliamentary transport committees – has strong connections to Whitehall and Westminster, and may be able to open up regulatory hurdles in a way that Gemini’s competitors could struggle with.’That’s despite Virgin and Evolyn launching their applications before the new company. ‘Indeed, the Gemini team is impressive in terms of its rail background; it includes the ex-CEO of CAF France and EuRailCo; a former partner of an economic consultancy that directly advised the UK’s Department for Transport, European rail authorities, and the ORR on rail access charging, competition policy, and regulatory strategy; the former CFO of Great North Eastern Railway; Eurostar’s former Head of Distribution; and a CEO who happens to be a former BBC journalist.’Eurostar has run passenger services through the Channel Tunnel since it was officially opened on May 6, 1994 by Queen Elizabeth II and France’s then-president Francois Mitterrand. Train schedules are displayed on the monitor by the Eurostar departure gates at St Pancras Gemini Trains said it has submitted an application to regulator the Office of Rail and Road for access to Eurostar’s Temple Mills maintenance depot in Leyton, East London (pictured in 2021) Passengers at St Pancras station in London, which Eurostar trains have served since 2007 Ebbsfleet International station opened in 2007 for Eurostar trains but they stopped in 2020The operator initially ran services to and from London Waterloo before switching to St Pancras when this was extensively refurbished in 2007.Eurostar now runs from St Pancras to Lille non-stop and then onto Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam via Rotterdam.It also has connecting Eurostar services from Brussels to Dortmund via Cologne and Dusseldorf; and the winter ‘Snow Train’ from Lille to Bourg-Saint-Maurice.But it dropped direct services between London and Disneyland Paris in June 2023, and no longer operates trains between London and the south of France.Eurostar also stopped calling at Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International in March 2020 when the pandemic began – and despite local pressure in Kent for services to resume, the company has said it is focusing on its core routes.Stratford International in East London is also on the route having opened in 2009, but has never been used by Eurostar and only serves Southeastern trains on the High Speed 1 route to Kent.But the tunnel’s French owner, Getlink, and London St Pancras Highspeed, which owns the station in the capital and the high-speed tracks to the tunnel, last month signed a memorandum of understanding to commit to expanding rail connectivity. Eurostar staff wave off their first train to Paris at London St Pancras on November 14, 2007 Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh travelling on the Eurostar train on May 7, 1994 The Channel Tunnel since it was officially opened on May 6, 1994 by Queen Elizabeth II and France’s then-president Francois Mitterrand (pictured together at Calais)London St Pancras Highspeed said it wants to encourage ‘new and existing train operators’ to open new routes and boost the capacity of the London station.It set out its ambition to increase the capacity for cross-Channel travel at St Pancras from 1,800 passengers per hour to nearly 5,000 passengers per hour.Getlink believes there is the potential for services between London and locations such as Bordeaux, Cologne, Frankfurt, Geneva, Marseille and Zurich.Gemini’s website states that Lord Berkeley spent 15 years ‘developing and building the Channel Tunnel’.The peer 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.’Gemini chief executive Adrian Quine said: ‘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.’ Passengers queue up to enter the old Eurostar terminal at London Waterloo station in 2001 Queen Elizabeth II steps off the Eurostar at Gare du Nord station in Paris on April 5, 2004 Passengers at London Waterloo, which operated as the Eurostar terminal from 1994 to 2007Last September, senior Labour MP Sir Stephen Timms wrote to Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy as he aimed to get Eurostar stopping in Stratford to boost the local economy.But critics fear his plan could cause chaos in an already-congested area where football fans attending games at West Ham United’s London Stadium and shoppers at Westfield already have to vie for space with commuters on several rail lines.The Channel Tunnel remains the world’s longest subsea rail tunnel at 31 miles.Construction work began in December 1987, with 11 huge boring machines cutting through eight million cubic metres of chalk marl to create the tunnel.In addition to Eurostar services, vehicle-carrying shuttle trains between Folkestone and Calais are run by Eurotunnel, which is part of Channel Tunnel owner Getlink.Queen Elizabeth II and Mr Mitterrand officially opened the tunnel 31 years ago by travelling in a Eurotunnel train to Folkestone.
