AFTER months of secrecy, Eurostar has confirmed that it is to buy 10 Siemens trainsets for £700 million, which will be to a ‘bespoke specification’. The new e320 fleet will allow the company to extend its operations to more European cities.

An example of the new 320km/h, 900-seat train will be unveiled in Hyde Park today, at an event attended by transport secretary Philip Hammond.

Journey times on existing routes are also set to be reduced, with London to Paris, presently 2h15 on the fastest trains, coming down to ‘just over two hours’. New routes will offer such journey times as London to Amsterdam in under four hours and London to Geneva in around five hours.

The new fleet is being funded by a combination of cash and bank borrowing.

(More details follow.)

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