Eurostar in Critical Condition

[bgmnts]

https://www.thelocal.fr/20210115/eurostar-in-critical-condition-after-collapse-in-travel-between-uk-and-france

No word of a lie, when I read 'critical condition' I pictured a Ben Garrison cartoon of a sickly train in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of it, labelled with words like Communism and ISIS or something.

[Captain Z]

And when I skim-read "in critical condition after collapse" I thought the tunnel had given way.

[Sin Agog]

[Captain Z]

It's a LOL from me.

[Norton Canes]

Destined for a chunnel house

[flotemysost]

Politics aside, I'd be pretty sad to lose a way of getting into Europe that's an option for people who don't drive and don't want to fly (I know there are buses too, which I'm guessing are cheaper as well but presumably much slower).

Only used it twice (Paris and Brussels) but I'm a fan. Service was decent and tickets actually seem pretty reasonably priced compared to a lot of train travel within the UK, at least for the trips I've done - going to Newcastle on the same weekend that I ended up going to Paris would have cost about twice as much (this was for a mate's birthday and we were looking at options a month or two in advance).

Obviously travel is restricted with very good reason at the moment, but I'm guessing that even with Brexit, as soon as it's more feasible (covid-wise) for people to book holidays outside the UK, cheap flights will be selling like hotcakes so anything that could take the strain off that (emissions-wise) would be welcome, in my eyes.

[Chedney Honks]

Impossible to beat this post.

[Thursday]

Yeah might steal it for twitter tbh

[bgmnts]

Only used it twice (Paris and Brussels) but I'm a fan. Service was decent and tickets actually seem pretty reasonably priced compared to a lot of train travel within the UK, at least for the trips I've done - going to Newcastle on the same weekend that I ended up going to Paris would have cost about twice as much (this was for a mate's birthday and we were looking at options a month or two in advance).

Yeah me too, it was cheap as anything, actually more expensive to travel on train from south wales to london than from st pancras to paris, which probably says more about the abysmal British rail service but yeah mega quick and comfy.

[Wonderful Butternut]

A predictable outcome, wasn't it?

Meanwhile, in Ireland:

Extra ferry capacity to France:
http://www.dfds.com.tr/dfds-new-ferry-route-dunkerque-rosslare/en/2946

More extra ferry capacity to France:
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/stena-moves-larger-ship-to-french-route-as-more-firms-seek-to-avoid-brexit-checks-1.4457726

More extra ferry capacity to France:
https://twitter.com/byrne_padraig/status/1350378189101662208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1350378189101662208%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.boards.ie%2Fvbulletin%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D2058136044page%3D3

Apparently a lot is Northern Irish freight not wanting to go through the mainland UK, so they drive over the border all the way down to the the South East. I hope were skimming a few quid out of that some way.

Nice border you got there Boris.

[flotemysost]

Yeah me too, it was cheap as anything, actually more expensive to travel on train from south wales to london than from st pancras to paris, which probably says more about the abysmal British rail service but yeah mega quick and comfy.

And you don't get assaulted with "ooh, quirky!" messages every time you go to the bogs on Eurostar, either.

[idunnosomename]

Poor-o-star

[Alberon]

Fucks sake! Brexit is done!

Fill it with good British concrete!

[Zetetic]

A predictable outcome, wasn't it?

I don't think any of the freight ferry stuff is relevant. Eurostar runs passenger services through the tunnel, they don't operate the tunnel itself or run freight services.

(If anything, I guess it's possible that reduced freight demand on the tunnel might make Eurotunnel/Getlink lower access fees?)

[Shit Good Nose]

Even if Eurostar does go down the shitter, the big fucking tunnel is still going to be there, so surely some(Chinese company)one will take it on and either continue to operate it or get it going again post-covid?  Or are they just going to remove the plug and let it fill with water?  If they do that, it will lower the level of the channel, so not only will you be able to walk across with wellies on, it will also mitigate the effect of rising sea levels by climate change.  Kill two birds.

[Zetetic]

Looks like truck freight through the tunnel (on the shuttles operated by Eurotunnel/Getlink, not Eurostar) was higher in December 2020 than December 2019.

Would be interesting to see what the freight pattern looked like across the year (but not interesting enough to hunt through Getlink's website at 0100), but the total year-on-year difference was smaller than -10%. (In contrast to passenger vehicles on the same shuttles which was down by almost -50%. Eurostar has clearly suffered far more than that.)

(January 2021 figures to be released on 5th February. Source.)

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

That's incredibly good

[Gurke and Hare]

Looks like truck freight through the tunnel (on the shuttles operated by Eurotunnel/Getlink, not Eurostar) was higher in December 2020 than December 2019.

I think that would be expected - the reduced passenger service level making more freight paths through the tunnel available and companies using them to avoid the delays that were mounting in Dover. As SGN says, the line will still be there post pandemic so someone will use it, if Eurostar go bust in the meantime two groups of people will be affected:

i) Eurostar shareholders
ii) People who were booked onto Eurostar but had to cancel because of the pandemic, many of whom are now holding vouchers to use post-pandemic, which will presumably be worthless

[Fambo Number Mive]

I feel sorry for Eurostar staff. I don't know if they are currently mostly furloughed or what will happen.

[Better Midlands]

ii) People who were booked onto Eurostar but had to cancel because of the pandemic, many of whom are now holding vouchers to use post-pandemic, which will presumably be worthless

My dad had a Eurotunnel booking for 22/2/2020, he kept postponing it and rebooking for a few months later and went to do so again yesterday but the website won't allow him to rebook after 21/2/2021 (as per their pre-covid T&C's)

[Zetetic]

I think that would be expected - the reduced passenger service level making more freight paths through the tunnel available

Did Getlink run more [edit: truck] shuttles? Can any shuttle car be used for either passenger vehicles or trucks?

Edit: No. to the second question - they use different wagons.

(I emphasise that this is only truck freight, not freight trains.)

companies using them to avoid the delays that were mounting in Dover

Does the Eurotunnel terminal actually avoid these delays? You still need to clear the same stuff. (Getlink put the increased demand in late 2020 down to a broader increase in pre-Brexit freight.)

As SGN says, the line will still be there post pandemic so someone will use it, if Eurostar go bust in the meantime two groups of people will be affected:

Worth noting that no one else has ever managed to actually get to the point of running passenger services through the tunnel... (which granted is a lot about trainset requirements as far as I can tell).

[Psybro]

Does anyone know if Eurostar owns the rolling stock, or are they leased as per domestic franchises?

[Zetetic]

I don't think they're leased. (Not really any reason why an operator that wasn't going through the tunnel between the UK and Europe would be terribly interested in them, as far as I can see, unless they were going very cheap.)

[Zetetic]

I suppose maybe we'll finally end up with Deutsche Bahn running both freight and passenger services through the tunnel...

[mippy]

I really like the Eurostar, have been to Amsterdam on it via Brussels, and the novelty of getting on the train in one country and getting off in a completely different one is amazing. Though I guess if Indyref2 happens I could get that when visiting my in-laws.

I've been put off going to the Eurozone since Brexit because everything seems so expensive now, but a few years ago I got a very very cheap flight to Tokyo that required me to start in Paris rather than London, and the lack of hassle in getting the train there compared with navigating connecting flights was great. Also I got to go for a nice walk in Paris.

[Gurke and Hare]

Does the Eurotunnel terminal actually avoid these delays? You still need to clear the same stuff. (Getlink put the increased demand in late 2020 down to a broader increase in pre-Brexit freight.)

I don't know about now, but I would have thought that pre-January 1st freight would just load up wherever and fly right through. I'm no expert though. And that does make sense about general pre-Brexit increases.

I suppose maybe we'll finally end up with Deutsche Bahn running both freight and passenger services through the tunnel...

Hopefully, we might get the services to Cologne then.

[JesusAndYourBush]

Ah, I did this before scrolling down.

[Fambo Number Mive]

London business people have called for the government to offer financial support to Eurostar: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55696664

Eurostar employs 1,200 people in the UK, according to the letter they sent to the government.

[madhair60]

This is Shane Meadows' fault

[Gurke and Hare]

London business people have called for the government to offer financial support to Eurostar: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55696664

Eurostar employs 1,200 people in the UK, according to the letter they sent to the government.

I would hope that a lot of them are furloughed while they're running a reduced service and can continue to be.until the pandemic is over - again, the same jobs will need to be done whether for Eurostar or someone else. The uncertaintly must be horrible though.

The operator of last resort wouldn't step in for Eurostar, would they? Is it effectively an open access company?