RRSG0003 - Expansion of International Passenger Rail Depot Capacity. Potential Public Private Partnership opportunity

The Government is fully supportive of the growth and expansion of international rail connections between the UK and mainland Europe, as well as establishing a thriving and competitive market for international rail passenger services. We are seeing renewed interest from potential new entrants looking to enter the market to compete with Eurostar, as well as Eurostar’s own publicised plans to procure a new fleet of trains to supports its expansion plans, including opening new routes to Switzerland and Germany. All are seeking to base their fleet maintenance operations in the UK given the nature of their planned services and constraints in mainland Europe. Most new entrants have plans to procure 10-12 trainsets whilst Eurostar has announced plans to procure 30-50 trainsets across both its cross-Channel and continental Europe networks.

A lack of available international passenger rail maintenance / stabling depot capacity is constraining sector growth and limiting competition. The Government is therefore considering potential interventions to address this constraint, which could facilitate market opening and significant growth. The objective of this pre-liminary market engagement is to understand potential private investor interest in and appetite for financing and delivering the expansion of international passenger rail deport capacity in the London area.

The Government has assessed options for establishing a new maintenance depot and is now interested in understanding market appetite to participate in the construction and operation of a new light and/or heavy maintenance facility that would be capable of meeting the needs of multiple operators’ fleet requirements.