British Rail Class 374

The Class 374 is a high speed electric multiple unit intended for use by Eurostar on its services through the Channel Tunnel. The type is planned to expand Eurostar's fleet, and open up access to destinations outside of its core routes to Paris and Brussels, where the infrastructure is incompatible with its current Class 373 units.

Development
The Siemens Velaro is a family of high speed EMUs developed by Siemens and derived from the ICE 3 trains first used by Deutsche Bahn (DB) in 2000. A number of variants have entered service around the world, including one developed specifically for DB as its Class 407, which was intended for use on international services, including through the Channel Tunnel.

In 2009, Eurostar announced a £700m project to update its fleet. Approximately £550m of this would be used to procure new trains that would be used to augment its existing fleet, with the intention that any new trains would be able to operate away from the core London-Paris/Brussels network. In October 2010, Eurostar announced that Siemens had been selected to provide Eurostar's new rolling stock, with the Velaro platform to be used. The Velaro e320, named because of Eurostar's plan to operate the trains at 320 km/h, would be 16 cars long, twice as long as most other Velaro units, to meet the Channel Tunnel safety specifications but, unlike the TGV derived Class 373s, would feature distributed traction, with the traction equipment located along the length of the train, rather than concentrated in power cars at each end.

Court Case
The nomination of Siemens would see it break into the French high-speed market for the first time, as all French and French subsidiary high-speed operators use TGV derivatives produced by Alstom. Alstom attempted legal action to prevent Eurostar from acquiring German-built trains, claiming that the Siemens sets ordered would breach Channel Tunnel safety rules, but this was thrown out of court. Alstom said, after its High Court defeat, that it would "pursue alternative legal options to uphold its position". On 4 November 2010, the company lodged a complaint with the European Commission over the tendering process, which then asked the British government for "clarification". Alstom then announced it had started legal action against Eurostar, again in the High Court in London. In July 2011, the High Court rejected Alstom's claim that the tender process was "ineffective", and in April 2012 Alstom said it would call off pending court actions against Siemens.

Construction and delivery
The new units were constructed at the Siemens plant at Krefeld in Germany, with the first rolled out for testing at the Wildenrath test circuit in early 2013. At this point it was revealed that the new trains had received its Class 374 designation, as the first unit carried this class number as part of its UIC identification mark. The intention was for the first unit to enter service in 2014; however, due to a delay in the EBA (the German railway regulator) passing DB's Class 407 for multiple working, the approval for the Class 374 to begin operation may also be delayed, as Eurostar announced that its new trains would follow the same approval process as the DB units. As a consequence, Eurostar may only receive its first unit in 2015.

Operations
Eurostar intend to utilise its Class 374 units to expand its existing core operation between London St Pancras International, Paris Gare du Nord and Brussels Midi/Zuid. However, to meet the prospect of increased competition through the Channel Tunnel (primarily from Deutsche Bahn), it intends to use its new trains to expand its network by running services to destinations including Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Cologne, as well as more destinations in France.