The Eurostar rival that wants trains to Europe from across UK — not just London 

High-speed Uber trains could soon be running from east London to Europe — but the dream is to extend cross-Channel services to every corner of the UK.

That’s according to Adrian Quine, chief executive of Gemini Trains, a start-up railway company that plans to make Stratford International its gateway to the continent, in partnership with Uber.

‘I think it would be great to be able to buy a ticket from Manchester to Marseilles, from Birmingham to Brussels, or from Peterborough to Paris,’ Mr Quine said.

Gemini, which is chaired by Lord Berkeley, 85, a veteran railway engineer and Labour minister, aims to challenge Eurostar with cross-Channel routes from as early as 2029.

The company plans to launch services from Stratford to Paris, Lille and Brussels, and then to expand to Cologne, the gateway to Germany and eastern Europe.

While other Eurostar rivals such as Italy’s state-owned railway company, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS Group), have hinted at routes as far south as Milan, Gemini’s sights are set eastward.

‘If you take Rome, for example, I think the time it would take to get from London would be so great that it wouldn’t be commercially viable,’ Mr Quine said.

‘Where we see viability and a demand for destinations is east of Brussels, so we’re absolutely committed to exploring those.’

What a journey on Uber Trains could look like

The plan, Quine says, is to put passengers first at every stage of the journey, starting with ticket prices and where trains depart from.

‘Anybody who’s taken a [Eurostar] train out of St Pancras will know you’ve got the beauty of the terminal building, that canopy above, and then you’ve got the underbelly where you check in. It’s dingy, it’s crowded, and Stratford is a great alternative,’ he said. More on that later.

When it comes to affordable fares, he said the plan is to have faster turnarounds, so trains can make more trips each day.

‘That means more bums on seats, which means the cost is shared across more people.

‘If you can offer more seats, there are more prices at the lower end to fill those seats and that means we can offer the best possible fares.’

As part of the Uber partnership, the same app that you use to hail a ride, book a Thames river cruise, or rent a bike could also whisk you off for a weekend on the continent — something that, according to documents filed by Gemini, Eurostar has dismissed as ‘too difficult’ to achieve.

Mr Quine said: ‘We’re living in the digital world. If you can get self-drive cars and you can get AI to answer difficult questions, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility to have a single booking facility.’

Once on board, Mr Quine said the vision is to inject a bit of glamour back into rail travel.

What features would you like to see on new cross-Channel trains? Have your say hereComment Now

Mr Quine said: ‘The Victorians built the railways to be lasting legacies, but they would be shocked if they could see how utilitarian the service offering often is today.’

That vision is set to include soft lighting and specially contoured seats, as well as in-seat charging points, high-speed WiFi and fold-out tables that are long enough to comfortably fit a laptop.

There are also plans to develop a day-to-night menu covering breakfast, lunch and dinner, with table service in business and first class carriages and the potential to order to your seat before you travel.

‘We want to put ourselves in the position of a passenger rather than simply say corporately, this is what we’re going to offer, because that’s where everybody else,’ Mr Quine said.

‘If people want a croissant, we’ll give them a croissant. If people prefer a bacon roll, then that’s what we’ll do.’

He adds that the long lead time for rolling stock, which is anywhere from two to five years, offers a ‘blank canvas’ to design the trains around what passengers really want.

Why Stratford?

Stratford has been waiting for its time to shine, and if Gemini’s plans come off, this might be it. 

It’s already primed for European travel — it even has it in its name.

Stratford International was built with the infrastructure needed to become an international station, including passport control, customs and border facilities and potential track layouts.

It was expected that the station would service international Eurostar trains and other cross-border services, but that never happened.

The combination of existing security infrastructure, and the accessibility of its location, would give passengers the same experience you find on Eurostar trains from St Pancras, without the chaos of central London.

East London is now a major transportation hub, with the area rising in both popularity and population. Londoner’s preferences are shifting East, away from the tourist-filled centre, with Hackney and Shoreditch becoming sought-after postcodes in recent years.

Stratford is also a strategic choice. Recently renovated and expanded to accommodate the Elizabeth Line, the station offers dozens of routes for inter-county and international travel.  

The station is connected to the DLR, Overground and Southeastern services, making it accessible from large swathes of the capital and the Southeast.

Why Ebbsfleet?

Gemini also plans to reopen Ebbsfleet station in Kent as a ‘parkway’ for international services.

Trains stopping in Ebbsfleet would see a return of international train travel to Kent for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.

Mr Quine said the company has no immediate plans to restart services at Ashford International, which were also suspended during Covid, but did not rule it out in the future.

Gemini is planning to buy 10 new trains for its services, one of at least five planned competitors to Eurostar.

For Gemini and its competitors, all plans depend on gaining access to Eurostar’s Temple Mills depot, the only UK facility that services high-speed international trains.

Mr Quine said there is a clear need for a second depot. He said the government needs to get serious about investing in British rail infrastructure if it wants to see competitive fares.

‘We very much encourage the government to look at investment in a second depot for international trains, to capitalise on the 50 percent capacity on the Channel Tunnel route that’s not being utilised at the moment.

‘And, to capitalise on the fact that people clearly want greater connectivity with the rest of Europe.’

By 2040, 28.5 million people a year could be travelling between the UK and Europe by train – more than two and half times the current number, according to a recent report by the Campaign for Better Transport.

Gemini forecasts, meanwhile, project a 300 percent growth in cross-Channel traffic over the next 15 years.

Ultimately, Mr Quine believes an end to Eurostar’s decades-long monopoly of the Channel Tunnel would be beneficial for both the market and passengers.

‘I really think it’s a case of a rising tide lifts all ships,’ he said.

‘In places like Spain, where you have multiple players, it’s sharpened up everybody’s act as an operator because you really have to fight for your customers.’

What features would you like to see on new cross-Channel trains? Have your say here