New Channel Tunnel services planned by Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn appear
likely after the European Railway Agency approved tunnel safety rule
amendments. Both Eurostar and DB have chosen trains by Siemens with power
sources underneath each carriage. Previous rules allowed power sources only at
either end of the train, as with the model used by Alstom, a French train
manufacturer and rival to Siemens. The French government had objected to the rule changes.
Last month, a DB executive told BTN
the German national rail company would consider scrapping plans to launch
services in 2013 to London from Germany and the Netherlands unless the safety
issue was resolved imminently. Eurostar's new trains, set for introduction from
2014, will increase the operator's top speed to 320 kilometers per hour from
300 kilometers per hour.