Eurostar considering direct route to Bordeaux

Eurostar is evaluating the viability of a new high-speed route that could see passengers transported from London to Bordeaux in just four hours.

Should plans for a route to Bordeaux progress, services are unlikely to start before 2019

The possibility was raised by Nicolas Petrovic, CEO of Eurostar, this week, who said in an interview with Bloomberg that Bordeaux had “really turned itself around”, asserting his belief that direct trains from London would be attractive to Britons. While you can currently reach Bordeaux by changing trains in France, a direct route would galvanize demand, believes Petrovic. The city’s vineyards are an obvious draw, while a new €81 million (£58m) wine museum, dubbed the “Guggeheim of wine”, is due to open in June.

Should plans for a route to Bordeaux progress, services are unlikely to start in 2019 or 2020, after the company’s next new route to Amsterdam, which is due to start in late 2017, said Petrovic.

Speaking to The Times, Petrovic, said: “There is nothing decided at the moment beyond Amsterdam, but we are looking at opportunities maybe in Bordeaux because there is a new high-speed line opening in 2017”.

The route would take advantage of a new £6.1 billion line between Bordeaux and Tours, which is due to be completed next year. This is separate to plans for two high speed lines connecting Bordeaux to Toulouse and Dax, that have been condemned by winemakers in Sauternes who have said it would cause irreparable damage to the region’s micro climate.

Speaking to the drinks business a Eurostar press officer confirmed that while there were no formal plans for a route to Bordeaux, following the success of its south of France route the train operator is “always looking for new opportunities”.

“We are always open to new ways to extend the high speed network across Europe, but our focus at the moment in on Amsterdam”, he said.

A route to Bordeaux would follow the success of the train operator’s recently introduced route to the French Riviera, with stops at Lyon and Avignon, and began service in May 2015. That route is going “super well”, according to Petrovic. While overall passenger number fell flat at 10.4million in 2015, matching the number reported in 2014, while operating profits fell to £34m from £55m in 2014. Eurostar attributed this drop to the “due to adverse currency movements and costs relating to disruptions in 2015″.

Despite ongoing difficulties, demand for Eurostar’s core London to Paris route was said to have picked up following the terror attacks on the city in November of last year. Over the next three years Eurostar is introducing 17 new e320 trains into its fleet and is carrying out a programme of refurbishment of its original trains.

“After a challenging end to 2015, trading is picking up and the outlook for the summer is positive”, said Petrovic in a press release. “With our new state-of-the-art trains and highly competitive fares to a range of destinations, we expect this trend to gather momentum over the coming months.”