The European Commission has given the go-ahead to Eurostar parent company London & Continental Railways and France’s SNCF to form a “new Eurostar”.
The green light was given following the new company’s assurance that it would open up routes for new competition. This means other rail operators should be able to enter the London to Paris and London to Brussels rail market.
The new company will create a single Eurostar board. Eurostar is currently a consortium of SNCF, Belgian railway group SNBC and Eurostar, part of LCR. SNCF now gets a 55% stake in the new company, LCR 40%, and SNBC 5%.
by Dinah Hatch
