Safety row over new Eurostars
French government and rival train maker say sleek new Siemens trains are not safe to run through the Channel Tunnel
A SAFETY row has broken out over Eurostar's plans to buy 10 new German trains to run through the Channel Tunnel.
The French government and train manufacturer Alstom, which made the current stock, claim the new Siemens trains are not safe.
Eurostar announced the €800m deal yesterday to buy 10 sleek new high-speed Siemens Velaro trains, which will be called Eurostar E320s.
They are capable of reaching speeds of up to 320kph, cutting the journey time from Paris to London from 2:15 to two hours.
The new trains will carry 900 passengers, a 20 per cent capacity increase on the current stock. They will include wi-fi and on-demand video and music.
Ecology minister Jean-Louis Borloo and transport secretary Dominique Bussereau claimed in a joint statement that the new trains did not meet the strict safety rules governing Channel Tunnel trains.
They said it was "inconceivable to relax the safety rules" after the three fires that have hit the Channel Tunnel since it opened 16 years ago: in 1996, 2006 and 2008.
The ministers said they were "amazed at Eurostar's failure to take account of the applicable safety rules in the call for tender for replacing its trains".
They added: "Eurostar must adapt its call for tenders to comply with the current safety rules."
Siemens' French rival, Alstom, which lost the tender, said: "The current safety rules applying to trains travelling through the Channel Tunnel conform to the highest possible standards and consequently do not permit the use of the trains that Eurostar states it has purchased."
The safety concerns have arisen because the new Siemens trains use a method called distributed traction, where the motors are placed under the floors throughout the length of the train.
The current Eurostar fleet has separate motor carriages at the front and back.
Siemens will carry out a test journey through the Channel Tunnel on October 19 to prove that its trains are safe.
Eurostar director-general Nicolas Petrovic said the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority had agreed six months ago to the technical specifications for the tender, and the new trains met those requirements.
As well as the new train order, Eurostar will overhaul its existing fleet of 27 trains from next year.
The company carries about nine million passengers a year between London and Lille, Brussels, Paris, Disneyland, Avignon and the Alps.
Photo: AndyRob/Flickr
