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If they all go to plan, it will not be long before you can have breakfast at the St Pancras station in London, lunch while you zern through France, arrive in time in Milan for dinner – without changing trains.
How exciting is that? Most London to Milan trains take more than 14 hours due to the changes.
But by traveling directly to the Italian city, the trip would take about ten hours.
Running Eurostar trains to Milan is just one of the many new European routes that are planned by London St Pancras Highspeed – the smart Rebrande HS1 – and the French owners of Eurotunnel Tllink.
In addition to the current routes to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, the two groups look at direct services on the entire continent, including Zurich, Geneva, Keulen and Frankfurt.
Integral with the plan is for London St Pancras, the company that manages the station and all stations along the fast route to Folkestone, to expand the capacity at the London Terminus.
Let the train take the tension: both London St Pancras and Tlink say
The station is already working in tight conditions, with long queues. But London St Pancras has devised new designs that can triple the number of passengers almost up to 5000 per hour, from the current 1,800. This will be done in two phases, with the destinations ready for a longer distance to walk within five years.
Such an expansion means expanding the departure clock and increasing safety authorization, which means new investments and more jobs. And there is more.
The partnership will open the Channel Tunnel for Rivals. TOP van de Kwijtrij is the Virgin Group of Sir Richard Branson who has ordered a dozen trains, ready to break through the Eurostar monopoly.
This also applies to other competitors such as Evolyn, the Spanish company founded by investors in National Express, and Heo, a Dutch start-up train operator. Heo, who also has large train orders on the shares, wants to run 15 trips a day between Amsterdam and London, including stops in Brussels and Paris.
Both London St Pancras and Getlink say that there is a raised and untouched potential for greater international traffic.
One reason why they can expand is that the high-speed rail network of Europe was liberalized ten years ago. That means that routes are open to bids for space on the tracks, so there is a hurry to compete.
More competition can only be positive for travelers, hopefully herald in a new Golden Age on Spoor. And also time.
Rail is still the most superior way of traveling, with cheap airlines and tight airport lounges beating every day.
There is one condition; If these new operators do want to compete against the airlines, they should keep prices low even the launch of modern offers in interrailium style or loyalty travel cards.
It is also great news for stronger relationships with our continental cousins.
With Europe in such an economic and political flux there can be no better time for more visitors to cross the channel, because this can only strengthen ties. And if someone dares to be brutal, it takes place despite the Brexit.
Germany goes to the polls
Germans will go to the polls tomorrow in What promises to be the most consistent post -war elections.
The final figures from Yougov point to Friedrich Merz's Center-right Christian Democrats who are the outright winner with approximately 30 percent of the votes, and approximately 220 of the 630 seats of the Bundesstag.
Although support has been purchased, the biggest profit will probably be achieved by the alternative to Germany (AfD) party, while Ola Scholz, the current Chancellor, has to do with large losses. Merz has excluded from working with the AfD, so he will have to choose the greens or the SDP.
For those who also go, they will have to promise with iron -covered support if he wants to tackle a volatile immigration crisis, increase the spending on forces and start the economy in the Goldrums.
Surveys show how Europe's powerhouse is stuttering, with the production sector in and out of a recession and negligible growth of services. In the past, Merz has proposed to loosen the brakes on borrowing rules. Will he be brave enough?
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