Regional Eurostar
Trial runs were undertaken using Class 373/2 sets on both the East and West Coast Main Lines in preparation for full-scale services being launched during the late 1990s.
Responsibility was transferred to the private entity London and Continental Railways (LCR) yet the operator soon found that the inter-capital Eurostar services had achieved lower than forecast passenger numbers and promptly needed financial support.
Both LCR and Virgin Rail Group had their proposals for regional Eurostar services reviewed by the Department for Transport and independent organisations.
[2] In preparation for the running of these regional services, roughly £140 million was invested into railway infrastructure, such as new connections between existing lines so that the trains could be routed through effectively.
[1] Trial runs were undertaken using Class 373/2 sets on both the East and West Coast Main Lines and passenger information signs and Eurostar lounges were installed at stations along the route.
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.
[8][9] 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.
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.
[11][12] 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.[a].
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.
Political factors related to the prospective regional Eurostar service, along with many other Channel Tunnel-related projects, have proved to be both complicated and protracted.
A governmental "command paper" published in March 2010 proposed either a rapid transit link between HS1 and HS2 terminals, or a direct railway connection.
[19][20] DfT proposals in 2013 stated that this link would allow HS2 trains from the North of England to bypass London Euston and connect straight to HS1, enabling direct rail services to be run from Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham to Paris, Brussels and other continental European destinations.
[22][23] Sir David Higgins, chairman of HS2 Ltd, recommended that the Camden railway link should be omitted from the parliamentary bill, stating that HS2 passengers from the North of England would easily be able to transfer from the HS2 terminal at Euston to St Pancras by London Underground, to continue their journey on HS1 to continental Europe.
Between 2000 and 2005, British East Coast Main Line operator Great North Eastern Railway used three train sets to provide additional domestic capacity.
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.
