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OPINION: Eurostar is a vital service for both France and the UK and should be saved

The news that Eurostar is in serious financial trouble has stirred strong interest on both sides of the Channel, here one British writer explains in a Twitter thread why the service is vital for both the UK and France.

Published: 20 January 2021 16:56 CET

OPINION: Eurostar is a vital service for both France and the UK and should be saved

Photo: AFP

Last week a top French rail executive announced that the Eurostar is in a 'critical condition' after almost a year of travel restrictions lead to a collapse in passenger numbers.

“I'm very worried about Eurostar,” Christophe Fanichet, a senior executive from France's state SNCF railways, which is the majority shareholder of Eurostar, told reporters.

“The company is in a critical state, I'd even say very critical,” added Fanichet, who heads SNCF Voyageurs, the passenger unit of the network.

While many were horrified at the potential loss of such a well-loved and convenient service, other focused on which governments should bail out the ailing company, with some arguing that the UK government should not contribute since it has sold its stake in the company.

Eurostar is 10% owned by a British investment firm and 90% by French / Quebec companies, including 55% by state train company SNCF, so they can't expect much help from the UK – they got out in March 2015. Likewise, the “British” freight companies are owned in Germany and Sweden.

— GreenReaper (@WikiNorn) January 16, 2021

But in this passionately-argued thread, British European lecturer, blogger and Berlin resident Jon Worth lays out why the Eurostar is a vital service for France, the UK and Belgium and why all governments should benefit from easy, comfortable and high-speed connections.

As well as it being a story about ? (and I often write about ?), the will-Eurostar-go-bankrupt discussion is one about access, privilege, public service and competition, and even how ?? sees itself

Beware, this is a bit of a ranty ?

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

First of all, ?? has just one genuine high speed rail service: Eurostar

It has one high-ish speed commuter service that uses the same tracks: Southeastern Javelin

That by definition makes ?? rather different to ?? ?? ?? etc. where there are domestic high speed services

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

Then to Eurostar itself…

The service *was* a cooperation between the state railways of ?? ?? ??, and when ?? rail was privatised, the 40% ?? share was owned by the British state until they sold it in 2015https://t.co/qfWAOPoyW6

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

The essential point however: Eurostar – in terms of its structure – is still run as something akin to a cooperation between state owned railways, although it is a private company

And – importantly – it faces *no competition* from other rail firms

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

Which then leads us to the problems of access and public service…

As the years have passed, so Eurostar has become a more and more premium service. Service levels have been reduced and prices increased. It is a de luxe product. It's often cheaper to fly instead.

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

But how would you do anything about that?

You could introduce competition – italo vs. Trenitalia on the Milano-Roma ?? route has driven up quality and driven down prices.

Operationally that would be hard – there are few trains in operation cleared to run through the tunnel

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

Or you go back to the public service ethos – low cost rail for the masses – see how SNCF has offered OUIGO and Thalys IZY to cater to the lower cost market in ??

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

The problem for Eurostar is neither of these is on offer – because of the respective blind spots on the ?? and ?? sides

?? would be fine for there to be competition on the route, but when Deutsche Bahn was rumoured to be considering this, the onerous passport controls…

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

… were what put them off. ?? insists passengers are controlled before they board. There's no viable way to do that in Frankfurt(Main), Köln or Liège

Meanwhile ?? doesn't want competition. SNCF still owns 55% of Eurostar, and until COVID hit it was a nice little earner.

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

Monopoly operator. No debate about public service. Rake in the cash! What's not to like?

In short: ?? would like competition, but their border paranoia prevents it
?? don't want competition, but are ?‍♂️ about the border issue

So Eurostar is essentially stuck

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

And that then leads to the whining in the British political debate – that there should be no need to bail out Eurostar as it's only used by the privileged anyway

NO! Because if those people are not taking ? they are going to ✈️ instead. It's not as if the trips won't happen!

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

And yes, Eurostar is too expensive, and yes, Eurostar matters much more to London and the South East than to the rest of the UK – but the infrastructure is there, the trains exist – make the most of it post-COVID!

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

The whole joyous ethos of the Channel Tunnel's construction was to allow more ???? travel, and to open that up for *more* people. Where has that spirit gone in British politics?

The reaction to Eurostar's woes shouldn't be “it's just for the privileged ?‍♂️ ditch it!”…

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

… but “make this high speed rail for everyone!”

It strikes me that the idea that international travel ought to be an aspiration for anyone from the UK – and that they ought to be able to do this by train – has been completely lost.

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

Whether this can be solved via competition or some more public service orientated offer needs to be debated. But Eurostar cannot be left to fail – it is far too important for that!

/ends

— Jon Worth (@jonworth) January 20, 2021

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In a statement on Thursday, the group said its activists had been “carried out of the school by more than fifty members of the security forces,” adding that “around a hundred” police officers were “also waiting for them outside”.

Sciences Po management “stubbornly refuses to engage in genuine dialogue,” the group said.

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