Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn partnership lays groundwork for direct London to Germany train services
Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn have announced a partnership that sets the foundation for direct train services between London and German cities Cologne and Frankfurt. These proposed routes aim to offer travel times of around four hours from London to Cologne and under five hours to Frankfurt, improving on current journeys that require changes in Brussels, where Frankfurt travel currently takes over 5.5 hours and Cologne about 4.25 hours.
The planned trains would utilize existing lines and infrastructure, allowing passengers to board a double-decker Eurostar in London with no changes once on the continent. However, the project’s implementation depends on meeting several technical, operational, and legal prerequisites, and joint partnerships are seen as essential due to the difficulty for a single railway company to implement such services alone.
Despite this progress, there is no direct London to Berlin service announced yet. Decisions remain contingent on commercial viability and necessary conditions. The Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander had previously highlighted the potential benefits of a London-Berlin route, but no concrete plans have been made.
The UK-Germany rail taskforce, formed over the summer, might enable further route announcements in the future. Market studies suggest that travellers generally accept international rail journeys up to six hours, supporting the prioritization of the London-Frankfurt service.
