EUROPE: International high speed train operator Eurostar, Swiss Federal Railways and French national passenger operator SNCF Voyageurs have signed a memorandum of understanding to co-operate to develop plans for direct train services between Switzerland and London.
On May 11 the three operators said they see strong customer demand for a direct rail connection to the UK, as international rail travel demand is high and London is the number one flight destination from Switzerland. More than 4 million passengers/year fly between Switzerland and London, including 2.5 million from Zürich airport.
Initial studies have found that direct connections could offer travel times to London of 6 h from Zürich, 5 h from Basel and 5.5 h from Genève. This compares to best city centre to city centre travel times of around 4 ½ by air from Zürich.
Planning Switzerland – London services
In May 2025 the UK and Switzerland signed an intergovernmental agreement to study the operational, regulatory, policy and commercial requirements for launching a direct train service between the countries, which would have to pass through France to reach the Channel Tunnel.
Since then SBB has been conducting studies on behalf of the Swiss Federal Office of Transport, while Eurostar and SNCF Voyageurs have also been looking to develop new international connections.
On March 25 this year SBB and SNCF Voyageurs signed an agreement to strengthen their co-operation. This included an extension through to 2032 of their long-running co-operation to jointly operate TGV Lyria international services and a commitment to further develop passenger services between Switzerland, France and potentially other European countries.
Sometime in the 2030s
Following the signing of the latest MoU, Eurostar, SBB and SNCF will now analyse potential timetables and operational concepts. The results will then be used to define the key steps and milestones for the potential introduction of Switzerland – UK services.
The operators said they ‘aim to offer the potential direct connection to London as soon as possible and are continuously driving the project forward’, but caution that several steps are still required before the new service could be introduced.
These include working out how to handle UK border formalities and security checks, along with the required infrastructure and intergovernmental agreements, as well as ensuring the availability of train paths and rolling stock suitable for all countries as well as the Channel Tunnel.
As such, implementation is not seen as feasible until ‘sometime in the course of the 2030s’ at the earliest.
| Eurostar ownership | |
|---|---|
| SNCF Voyages Développement, a subsidiary of SNCF Voyageurs | 55.75% |
| CDPQ | 19.31% |
| SNCB | 18.50% |
| Federated Hermes Infrastructure Fund | 6.44% |