Regional Eurostar

Regional Eurostar was the name given to plans to operate Eurostar train services from Paris and Brussels to locations in the United Kingdom beyond London. The services would have been run using a specially ordered fleet of seven "North of London" (NoL), 14-coach British Rail Class 373/2 trainsets ordered for the purpose.

Beginnings
When the Channel Tunnel was first announced in the 1980s it was part of the proposals to operate high-speed rail services through it on both sides of the English Channel with a substantial network envisioned. This was gradually reduced to a core service, along dedicated TGV-style high-speed lines, between the three capital cities, regional daytime services to Glasgow (via the East Coast Main Line) and Manchester (via the West Coast Main Line), and Nightstar sleeper services to the same cities as well as the West Country and Wales via the Great Western Main Line.

A depot for the regional Eurostar services was constructed at Longsight in Manchester (Manchester International Depot). Trial runs were undertaken using the NoL units on both the East and West Coast Main Lines and passenger information signs and Eurostar lounges were installed at stations along the route. As the high-speed rail line between London and the Channel Tunnel, High Speed 1, was not under construction Eurostar services within the UK were forced to use existing rail lines and connecting junctions were built to allow Regional Eurostars access via the congested North London Line. In all British Rail invested £140 million in infrastructure to allow the services to operate.

Privatisation
Regional Eurostar services were never to run. At the same time as the Channel Tunnel was nearing completion British Rail was undergoing the long process of privatisation and regional Eurostar can be seen as a victim of it. Many had seen regional services as more a political than economic cause, a means of gaining support for the Channel Tunnel from areas of the UK outside the South-East. A Parliamentary Select Committee in 1999 said "The regions have been cheated". The economic case for merely the inter-capital services had been questioned from the outset but by the time the Channel Tunnel was opened in 1993 backing for regional services had already started to dry up. The British Rail subsidiary European Passenger Services (EPS), which was to undertake Eurostar operations jointly with SNCF of France and NMBS/SNCB of Belgium, took ownership of the NoL units in 1996 at the same time as it was under the process of being privatised and transferred to London and Continental Railways (LCR) who won the contract to build the CTRL and run Eurostar services.

Due to lower than forecast passenger numbers on the inter-capital services, by 1998 LCR was in financial trouble. As part of a new deal with the UK government in 1998 LCR sub-contracted its share of Eurostar operations, via Eurostar (UK), to InterCapital and Regional Rail (ICRR). As part of its bid ICRR stated that regional Eurostar services could not run without government subsidy, which the Department for Transport was unwilling to provide. The only other bidder to operate the UK share of the Eurostar operation for LCR, Richard Branson's Virgin Group, claimed it was willing to run regional Eurostar services at its own risk, however it subsequently informed the UK government that it too saw them as unviable. As part of its contract LCR was not legally required to start regional Eurostar services and by 1999 it was clear that they would not operate.

British Rail, via EPS, ran a token domestic service from certain locations around the UK into Waterloo station using HSTs allowing connection with onward Eurostar service between May 1995 and January 1997 but these were ended at the time of privatisation.

Reasons given and criticism
Whilst officially regional Eurostar services have not been cancelled but are on hold or under review, there are no longer many people who expect them to operate on current lines, although this may be reconsidered if the proposed High Speed 2 line comes to fruition. The most often cited reason given why they have not run is that economically they are unviable. The 1990s saw a huge expansion in air travel across Europe with low-cost airlines flying from most major cities in the UK to locations on the continent, against which regional Eurostar services, with predicted journey times of almost nine hours for Glasgow to Paris, could not compete.

Unlike other international train services within the European Union where border controls have either had a long history of operation or are no longer enforced, the UK maintains concerns about customs and immigration. The inter-capital services still operate separately from the rest of the British railway network with passport checks carried out at St Pancras, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International stations. There was concern that similar tight control would not be possible upon regional Eurostar services where separate check-in facilities at stations did not exist.

To stop regional Eurostar services competing with domestic services in the envisioned competitive market that it was hoped the privatisation of British Rail would create, they were not to stop in London and only allowed to pick up at regional stations whilst going south and set down passengers going north. This was cited as another negative reason for their economic non-viability.

The politics of the regional Eurostar service, along with many other Channel Tunnel-related projects, have been complicated over the years. In 1999 the Department for Transport commissioned Arthur D. Little Ltd to write an independent report into regional Eurostar service which was published in February 2000.

The future
With the opening of High Speed 1 in November 2007, which has connections to both the East Coast Main Line and North London Line (for the West Coast Main Line) at St Pancras, there remains hope that the significantly improved journey times now available to potential Regional Eurostar services may make the service more viable. In addition, the maximum speed on the West Coast Main Line has been increased from 110 to 125 mph since the mid 2000's (though class 373's are at present limited by kinematic gauging constraints to 110 mph). Key pieces of infrastructure still belong to LCR via their subsidiary London & Continental Stations and Property (LCSP) such as the Manchester International Depot in Longsight.

While there has not been any official announcement of plans to start Regional Eurostar services, during recent enquiries into capacity on the East Coast Main Line it has been mentioned that Eurostar (UK) still owns several track access rights and the rights to paths on both the East Coast and West Coast Main Lines, hinting at the possibility of services at some point in the future. But for the time being, at least, the nearest the UK has to Regional Eurostar services is the same-station connections now available at St Pancras from midland cities along the Midland Main Line route, e.g., Leicester and Sheffield.

Fresh plans have been proposed with a new line between London and Glasgow via Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, called High Speed Two. The government's "command paper" published in March 2010 proposes either a rapid transit link between HS1 and HS2 terminals, or a direct connection.

Nonetheless, the issue of border and customs clearance remains an obstacle to onward services both sides of the Channel and it is likely that any new services would continue to require static checks on passengers prior to embarkation, and secure platforms. This indicates that any future services are likely to serve just a limited range of large cities.

The routes
Due to track arrangements, customs and competition concerns and that the Eurostar terminal was located at Waterloo railway station on the south side of London regional Eurostar services were not to call at London. The Summer 1999 National Rail Timetable indicates the trains would have called at the following stations, with one train per day on the ECML Glasgow route, and two running to Manchester, one via the Trent Valley line and one via the Birmingham line. The faster train would not have called at stations between Stafford and Milton Keynes.

East Coast Main Line

 * Glasgow Central
 * Edinburgh Waverley
 * Newcastle
 * Darlington
 * York
 * Leeds City
 * Doncaster
 * Newark North Gate
 * Peterborough

West Coast Main Line

 * Manchester Piccadilly
 * Stockport
 * Crewe
 * Stafford
 * Wolverhampton
 * Birmingham New Street
 * Birmingham International
 * Coventry
 * Rugby
 * Milton Keynes

Slots in British Rail/Railtrack/Network Rail's timetables for regional Eurostar services were included for many years even though the services did not run. This factor was objected to by some train operating companies who were informed they could not run additional domestic services along the congested mainlines. The dropping of these slots around 1999/2000 was seen by many as the final admission that regional Eurostar services would not ever operate. However Eurostar (UK) still owns the rights to reinstate several paths in the future if desired.

Rolling stock
The trains to operate all these services were built at the same time as the Channel Tunnel was under construction in the late 1980s to early 1990s. The London-Paris-Brussels ("Three Capital" Class 373) trains are owned in groups by Eurostar (UK) (subsidiary of LCR), SNCF and NMBS/SNCB but operate as a common pool. They consist of 18 coaches in a fixed formation. Seven shorter 14-coach North of London (NoL) were also constructed for the regional services at a cost of £180 million. All seven are owned by Eurostar (UK) having been transferred from British Rail. Following the non-start of regional services, the trains were stored at North Pole depot in west London. Six of the seven trains have seen use at various times since. The Nightstar sleeper trains were never completed and were subsequently sold to Via Rail in Canada.

Between 2001 and 2005, British ECML operator GNER used three train sets to provide additional domestic capacity. Branded White Rose after the White Rose of Yorkshire, sets 3301–3306 received a deep-blue livery using vinyl wraps, with 3307–3312 being stripped of their Eurostar logos to fulfill the roster when the GNER-branded sets were unavailable. On occasions a GNER vinyled half set would operate with an unvinyled half set. Initially the GNER White Rose services ran between London Kings Cross and York, then, after clearance was given, between London and Leeds. The sets continued to be maintained with the other Eurostar units at North Pole depot, where they returned to storage in 2005 following the end of the GNER lease.

NoL set 3313/14 was used during acceptance testing on section 1 of High Speed 1 and in the process of over-speed testing, set a new UK rail speed record of 334.7 km/h in 2003. The set is named Entente Cordiale and has seen use as a VIP charter train, having transported the Queen on a state visit to France and to the Entente Cordiale anniversary celebrations in 2004. On 12 June 2007 the unit was used to carry International Olympic Committee inspectors from Stratford International to London St. Pancras, as a demonstration for Olympic Javelin services in 2012.

The current future of the NoL sets remains uncertain. Software upgrades are believed to be required to allow the units to operate independently as a half-set; it is likely that the units will receive a similar paint-scheme to the Three Capitals Eurostar units already in use by SNCF for domestic service.