title: David Koch

text: Koch donated funds to various advocacy groups. In 1984, he founded Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE). He served as its Chairman of the board of directors and donated funds to it. Richard H. Fink served as its first president. Koch was the chairman of the board and gave initial funding to the Americans for Prosperity Foundation and to a related advocacy organization, Americans for Prosperity. A Koch Industries spokesperson issued a press release stating "No funding has been provided by Koch companies, the Koch foundations, or Charles Koch or David Koch specifically to support the tea parties." Koch was the top initial funder of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation at $850,000. Koch said that he sympathized with the Tea Party movement, but denied directly supporting it, having stated that: "I've never been to a tea party event. No one representing the tea party has ever even approached me."


title: David Koch

text: Koch sat on the board of the libertarian Cato Institute and Reason Foundation and donated to both organizations. The Koch brothers have been involved in blocking regulations and legislation to confront climate change since 1991, when the Cato Institute held the "Global Environmental Crisis: Science or Politics?"


title: David Koch

text: In August 2010, Jane Mayer wrote an article in "The New Yorker" on the political spending of David and Charles Koch. It stated: "As their fortunes grew, Charles and David Koch became the primary underwriters of hard-line libertarian politics in America." An opinion piece by journalist Yasha Levine in "The New York Observer" said Mayer's article had failed to mention that the Kochs' "free market philanthropy belies the immense profit they have made from corporate welfare."


title: David Koch

text: In 2011, 2014, and 2015 "Time" magazine included Charles and David Koch among the "Time" 100 of the year, for their involvement in supporting the Tea Party movement and the criticism they received from liberals.


title: David Koch

text: In July 2015, David and Charles Koch were commended by both President Obama and activist Anthony Van Jones for their bipartisan efforts to reform the prison system in the United States. For nearly 10 years, the Kochs advocated for several reforms within the criminal justice system which include reducing recidivism rates, simplifying the employment process for the rehabilitated, and defending private property from government seizures through asset forfeiture. Allying with groups such as the ACLU, the Center for American Progress, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the Coalition for Public Safety, and the MacArthur Foundation, the Kochs maintained that current prison system unfairly targeted low-income and minority communities at the expense of the public budget.


title: David Koch

text: Koch established the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation. Beginning in 2006, the Chronicle of Philanthropy listed Koch as one of the world's top 50 philanthropists. He sat on the Board of Trustees of NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital from 1988 until his death in 2019.


title: David Koch

text: Overall, Koch has donated more than $1 billion to philanthropic causes. Fraudsters have regularly (and falsely) used his philanthropic reputation in attempts to lend credibility to phishing emails.


title: David Koch

text: In July 2008, Koch pledged $100 million over 10 years to renovate the New York State Theater in the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; the Theater is the home of the New York City Ballet. According to "The New York Times", Koch's gift was "transformative, enabling a full-scale renovation of the stage" that included "an enlarged orchestra pit that mechanically rises". The theater was renamed the David H. Koch Theater. Koch also pledged $10 million to renovate fountains outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2008.


title: David Koch

text: Koch was a trustee of the American Ballet Theatre for 25 years and contributed more than $6 million to the theater. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of WGBH-TV.


title: David Koch

text: From 1982 to 2013, Koch contributed $18.6 million to WGBH Educational Foundation, including $10 million to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) show "Nova". Koch was a contributor to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., including a $20 million gift to the American Museum of Natural History, creating the David H. Koch Dinosaur Wing and a contribution of $15 million to the National Museum of Natural History to create the new "David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins", which opened on the museum's 100th anniversary of its location on the National Mall on March 17, 2010. He also served on the executive board of the Institute of Human Origins. In 2012, Koch contributed US$35 million to the Smithsonian to build a new dinosaur exhibition hall at the National Museum of Natural History.


title: David Koch

text: Koch was also a benefactor of the Deerfield Academy, his alma mater. The Academy's natatorium, science center, and field house are named after him. Koch was named the Academy's first Lifetime Trustee.


title: David Koch

text: Koch said his biggest contributions go toward a "moon shot" campaign to finding the cure for cancer, according to his profile on Forbes. Between 1998 and 2012, Koch contributed at least $395 million to medical research causes and institutions.


title: David Koch

text: Koch has sat on the Board of Trustees of NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital since 1987. In 2007 he donated $15 million to NewYork–Presbyterian In 2013, he gave $100 million to NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital, the then-largest philanthropic donation in its history, beginning a $2 billion campaign to conclude in 2019 for a new ambulatory care center and renovation the infrastructure of the hospital's five sites.


title: David Koch

text: Koch was a member of the board of directors of the Prostate Cancer Foundation and contributed $41 million to the foundation, including $5 million to a collaborative project in the field of nanotechnology. An eponym of the David H. Koch Chair of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the position is held by Dr. Jonathan Simons.


title: David Koch

text: In 2006, Koch gave $20 million to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore for cancer research. The building he financed was named the David H. Koch Cancer Research Building.


title: David Koch

text: In 2007, he contributed $100 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the construction of a new research and technology facility to serve as the home of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. From the time he joined the MIT Corporation in 1988, Koch has given at least $185 million to MIT, and $30 million to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. The same year, he donated $25 million to the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to establish the David Koch Center for Applied Research in Genitourinary Cancers.


title: David Koch

text: In 2011 Koch gave $5 million to the House Ear Institute, in Los Angeles, to create a center for hearing restoration, and $25 million to the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City


title: David Koch

text: In 2015, he committed $150 million to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City to build the David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care, which will be housed in a 23-story building in development between East 73rd and 74th Streets overlooking the FDR Drive. The center will combine state-of-the-art cancer treatment in an environment that supports patients, families, and caregivers. The building will include flexible personal and community spaces, educational offerings, and opportunities for physical exercise. Koch also donated $10 million to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for biomathematics research.


title: David Koch

text: Koch was the fourth-richest person in the United States in 2012 and was the wealthiest resident of New York City in 2013. As of June 2019, Koch was ranked as the 11th-richest person in the world (tied with his brother Charles), with a fortune of $50.5 billion.


title: David Koch

text: In February 1991, Koch was a passenger on board USAir Flight 1493 when it collided with another aircraft on a runway at Los Angeles International Airport, killing 35 people. Koch survived and said in an interview in 2014 that it helped change his life and prompted him to become "tremendously philanthropic".


title: David Koch

text: In 1992, Koch was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent radiation, surgery, and hormone therapy, but the cancer repeatedly returned. Koch said he believed his experience with cancer encouraged him to fund medical research.


title: David Koch

text: Following Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' death in 1994, Koch purchased her 15-room apartment at 1040 Fifth Avenue. In 1996 he married Julia Flesher. The apartment "wasn't roomy enough" after the birth of their third child, so Koch sold it to billionaire Glenn Dubin in 2006 and moved with his family to 740 Park Avenue.


title: David Koch

text: Koch died at his home in Southampton, New York, on August 23, 2019, at the age of 79. Koch's wife, Julia Koch, and their three children inherited a 42% stake in Koch Industries from Koch upon his death.


title: Ranch dressing

text: Ranch dressing is an American salad dressing usually made from buttermilk, salt, garlic, onion, mustard, herbs (commonly chives, parsley and dill), and spices (commonly pepper, paprika and ground mustard seed) mixed into a sauce based on mayonnaise or another oil emulsion. Sour cream and yogurt are sometimes used in addition to, or as a substitute for, buttermilk and mayonnaise.


title: Ranch dressing

text: Ranch has been the best-selling salad dressing in the United States since 1992, when it overtook Italian. It is also popular in the United States and Canada as a dip, and as a flavoring for potato chips and other foods. In 2017, 40% of Americans named ranch as their favorite dressing, according to a study by the Association for Dressings and Sauces.


title: Ranch dressing

text: In 1949, Thayer, Nebraska, native Steve Henson (1918–2007) moved with his wife to the Anchorage, Alaska, area, where he worked for three years in the remote Alaskan bush. Endeavoring to keep his work crews happy, he invented a new salad dressing called Ranch. Henson's success in the plumbing business enabled him to retire at age 35, and he moved with his wife to Santa Barbara County, California. After a year and half, the restless Henson, searching for some livelihood to occupy his time, purchased the Sweetwater Ranch in San Marcos Pass in 1956 and renamed it Hidden Valley Ranch. In creating the menu for the ranch kitchen, Henson served the salad dressing he had created in Alaska, which the guests enjoyed. Its popularity led Henson to mix a batch for his friend, Audrey Ovington, owner of Cold Spring Tavern, which became the first commercial customer for the dressing. By 1957, a packaged mix to make the dressing at home was being offered in stores.


title: Ranch dressing

text: Henson began selling the packages by mail for 75 cents apiece, and eventually devoted every room in his home to the operation. By the mid-1960s, the guest ranch itself had closed, but Henson's "ranch dressing" mail order business was thriving. By the early 1970s, Henson realized that the operation was too big to keep running it at the ranch, which remained its corporate headquarters. The Hensons incorporated Hidden Valley Ranch Food Products, Inc., and opened a factory to manufacture ranch dressing in larger volumes, which they first distributed to supermarkets in the Southwest, and eventually, nationwide. The manufacturing of the mix was moved to Griffith Laboratories in San Jose, and the packaging was done in Los Angeles. The operation later moved to Colorado, and then in 1972 moved again to Sparks, Nevada. In October 1972, the Hidden Valley Ranch brand was bought by Clorox for $8 million and Henson went into retirement again.


title: Ranch dressing

text: Kraft Foods and General Foods responded by introducing similar dry seasoning packets labeled as "ranch style". As a result, they were both sued for trademark infringement by the Waples-Platter Companies, the Texas-based manufacturer of Ranch Style Beans (now part of Conagra Brands), even though Waples-Platter had declined to enter the salad dressing market itself over concerns that the tendency of such products to spoil rapidly would damage its brand. The case was tried before federal judge Eldon Brooks Mahon in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1976. Judge Mahon ruled in favor of Waples-Platter in a lengthy opinion which described the various "ranch style" and "ranch" products then available, of which many had been created to compete against Hidden Valley Ranch. Judge Mahon specifically noted that Hidden Valley Ranch and Waples-Platter had no dispute with each other (though he also noted that Hidden Valley Ranch was simultaneously suing General Foods in a separate federal case in California). The only issue before the Texas federal district court was that Waples-Platter was disputing the right of other American food manufacturers to compete against Hidden Valley Ranch by using the label "ranch style".


title: Ranch dressing

text: Meanwhile, Clorox reformulated the Hidden Valley Ranch dressing several times to make it more convenient for consumers. The first change was to include buttermilk flavoring in the seasoning, meaning much less expensive regular milk could be used to mix the dressing instead. In 1983, Clorox developed a more popular non-refrigerated bottled formulation. As of 2002, Clorox subsidiary Hidden Valley Manufacturing Company was producing ranch packets and bottled dressings at two large factories, in Reno, Nevada, and Wheeling, Illinois.


title: Ranch dressing

text: During the 1980s, ranch became a common snack food flavor, starting with Cool Ranch Doritos in 1987, and Hidden Valley Ranch Wavy Lay's in 1994.


title: Ranch dressing

text: During the 1990s, Hidden Valley had three child-oriented variations of ranch dressing: pizza, nacho cheese, and taco flavors.


title: Ranch dressing

text: Ranch dressing is produced by many manufacturers, including Hidden Valley, Kroger, Ken's, Kraft, Litehouse, Marie's, Newman's Own, and Wish-Bone.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: The Kingdom of Bavaria (; ; spelled "Baiern" until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingdom became a federated state of the new empire and was second in size, power, and wealth only to the leading state, the Kingdom of Prussia.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: The polity's foundation dates back to the ascension of prince-elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach as King of Bavaria in 1805. The crown would go on being held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom came to an end in 1918. Most of the border of modern Germany's Free State of Bavaria were established after 1814 with the Treaty of Paris, in which the Kingdom of Bavaria ceded Tyrol and Vorarlberg to the Austrian Empire while receiving Aschaffenburg and Würzburg.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: In 1918, Bavaria became a republic after the German Revolution, and the kingdom was thus succeeded by the current Free State of Bavaria.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: On 30 December 1777, the Bavarian line of the Wittelsbachs became extinct, and the succession on the Electorate of Bavaria passed to Charles Theodore, the Elector Palatine. After a separation of four and a half centuries, the Palatinate, to which the duchies of Jülich and Berg had been added, was thus reunited with Bavaria. In 1793, French revolutionary armies overran the Palatinate; in 1795, the French, under Moreau, invaded Bavaria itself, advanced to Munich—where they were received with joy by the long-suppressed Liberals—and laid siege to Ingolstadt. Charles Theodore, who had done nothing to prevent wars or to resist the invasion, fled to Saxony, leaving a regency, the members of which signed a convention with Moreau, by which he granted an armistice in return for a heavy contribution (7 September 1796). Between the French and the Austrians, Bavaria was now in a bad situation. Before the death of Charles Theodore (16 February 1799), the Austrians had again occupied the country, in preparation for renewing the war with France.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: Maximilian IV Joseph (of Zweibrücken), the new elector, succeeded to a difficult inheritance. Though his own sympathies, and those of his all-powerful minister, Maximilian von Montgelas, were, if anything, French rather than Austrian, the state of the Bavarian finances, and the fact that the Bavarian troops were scattered and disorganized, placed him helpless in the hands of Austria; on 2 December 1800, the Bavarian arms were involved in the Austrian defeat at Hohenlinden, and Moreau once more occupied Munich. By the Treaty of Lunéville (9 February 1801), Bavaria lost the Palatinate and the duchies of Zweibrücken and Jülich. In view of the scarcely disguised ambitions and intrigues of the Austrian court, Montgelas now believed that the interests of Bavaria lay in a frank alliance with the French Republic; he succeeded in overcoming the reluctance of Maximilian Joseph; and, on 24 August, a separate treaty of peace and alliance with France was signed at Paris.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: The 1805 Peace of Pressburg allowed Maximilian to raise Bavaria to the status of a kingdom. Accordingly, Maximilian proclaimed himself king on 1 January 1806. The King still served as an elector until Bavaria seceded from the Holy Roman Empire on 1 August 1806. The Duchy of Berg was ceded to Napoleon only in 1806. The new kingdom faced challenges from the outset of its creation, relying on the support of Napoleonic France. The kingdom faced war with Austria in 1808 and from 1810 to 1814, lost territory to Württemberg, Italy, and then Austria. In 1808, all relics of serfdom were abolished, which had left the old empire. In the same year, Maximilian promulgated Bavaria's first written constitution. Over the next five years, it was amended numerous times in accordance with Paris' wishes.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: During the French invasion of Russia in 1812 about 30,000 Bavarian soldiers were killed in action. With the Treaty of Ried of 8 October 1813 Bavaria left the Confederation of the Rhine and agreed to join the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon in exchange for a guarantee of her continued sovereign and independent status. On 14 October, Bavaria made a formal declaration of war against Napoleonic France. The treaty was passionately backed by the Crown Prince Ludwig and by Marshal von Wrede. With the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813 ended the German Campaign with the Coalition nations as the victors, in a complete failure for the French, although they achieved a minor victory when an army of Kingdom of Bavaria attempted to block the retreat of the French Grande Armée at Hanau.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: With the defeat of Napoleon's France in 1814, Bavaria was compensated for some of its losses, and received new territories such as the Grand Duchy of Würzburg, the Archbishopric of Mainz (Aschaffenburg) and parts of the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Finally, in 1816, the Rhenish Palatinate was taken from France in exchange for most of Salzburg which was then ceded to Austria (Treaty of Munich (1816)). It was the second largest and second most powerful state south of the Main, behind only Austria. In Germany as a whole, it ranked third behind Prussia and Austria.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: Between 1799 and 1817, the leading minister Count Montgelas followed a strict policy of modernisation and laid the foundations of administrative structures that survived even the monarchy and are (in their core) valid until today. On 1 February 1817, Montgelas had been dismissed and Bavaria had entered on a new era of constitutional reform.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: On 26 May 1818, Bavaria's second constitution was proclaimed. The constitution established a bicameral Parliament (Landtag). The upper house (Kammer der Reichsräte, meaning "House of Councillors") comprising the aristocracy and noblemen, including the royal princes, holders of the , archbishops, members of the Mediatized Houses in bavaria and hereditary and lifelong nominees of the crown. The lower house (Kammer der Abgeordneten, meaning "House of Representatives"), would include representatives of landowners, the three universities, clergy (Catholic and Protestant), the towns and the peasants. Without the consent of both houses, no law could be passed and no tax could be levied. The rights of Protestants were safeguarded in the constitution with articles supporting the equality of all religions, despite opposition by supporters of the Roman Catholic Church. The initial constitution almost proved disastrous for the monarchy, with controversies such as the army having to swear allegiance to the new constitution. The monarchy appealed to the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire for advice, the two refused to take action on Bavaria's behalf, but the debacles lessened and the state stabilized with the accession of Ludwig I to the throne following the death of Maximilian in 1825.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: Within the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Palatinate enjoyed a special legal and administrative position, as the Bavarian government maintained substantial achievements of the French period. The German historian Heiner Haan described the special status of the Palatinate within Bavaria as a relation of "Hauptstaat" (main state, i.e. Bavaria) and "Nebenstaat" (alongside state, i.e. the Palatinate).


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: In 1825, Ludwig I ascended the throne of Bavaria. Under Ludwig, the arts flourished in Bavaria, and Ludwig personally ordered and financially assisted the creation of many neoclassical buildings and architecture across Bavaria. Ludwig also increased Bavaria's pace towards industrialization under his reign. In foreign affairs under Ludwig's rule, Bavaria supported the Greeks during the Greek War of Independence with his second son, Otto being elected King of Greece in 1832. As for politics, initial reforms advocated by Ludwig were both liberal and reform-oriented. However, after the Revolutions of 1830, Ludwig turned to conservative reaction. The Hambacher Fest in 1832 showed the discontent of the population with high taxes and censorship. Bavaria joined the Zollverein in 1834. In 1835, the first German railway was constructed in Bavaria, between the cities of Fürth and Nuremberg.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: In 1837, the Roman Catholic-supported clerical movement, the Ultramontanes, came to power in the Bavarian parliament and began a campaign of reform to the constitution, which removed civil rights that had earlier been granted to Protestants, as well as enforcing censorship and forbidding the free discussion of internal politics. This regime was short-lived due to the demand by the Ultramontanes of the naturalization of Ludwig I's Irish mistress, Lola Montez, a notorious courtesan and dancer, which was resented by Ludwig, and the Ultramontanes were pushed out.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: During the Revolutions of 1848, Ludwig abdicated on 20 March 1848 in favour of his eldest son, Maximilian II. The revolutions also brought amendments to the constitution, including changes to the lower house of the Landtag with equal suffrage for every male who paid a direct tax. Maximilian II responded to the demands of the people for a united German state by attending the Frankfurt Assembly, which intended to create such a state. However, when Maximilian II rejected the Frankfurt Constitution in 1849, there was an uprising in the Bavarian Palatinate under Joseph Martin Reichard, which was put down with the support of Prussian forces. However Maximilian II stood alongside Bavaria's ally, the Austrian Empire, in opposition to Austria's enemy, the Kingdom of Prussia. This position was resented by many Bavarian citizens, who wanted a united Germany. In the end Prussia declined the crown offered by the Frankfurt Assembly as the proposed constitution of a German state was perceived to be too liberal and not in Prussia's interests.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: In the aftermath of the failure of the Frankfurt Assembly, Prussia and Austria continued to debate over which monarchy had the inherent right to rule Germany. A dispute between Austria and the Prince of Hesse-Kassel was used by Austria and its allies (including Bavaria) to promote the isolation of Prussia in German political affairs. This diplomatic insult almost led to war when Austria, Bavaria, and other allies moved troops through Bavaria towards Hesse-Kassel in 1850. However, Prussia backed down to Austria, and accepted of dual leadership. This event was known as the Punctation of Olmütz but also known as the "Humiliation of Olmütz" by Prussia. This event solidified the Bavarian kingdom's alliance with Austria against Prussia. When the project to unite the German middle-sized powers under Bavarian leadership against Prussia and Austria (the so-called "Trias") failed, Minister-President Von der Pfordten resigned in 1859. Attempts by Prussia to reorganize the loose and un-led German Confederation were opposed by Bavaria and Austria, with Bavaria taking part in its own discussions with Austria and other allies in 1863, in Frankfurt, without Prussia and its allies attending.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: In 1864, Maximilian II died early, and his eighteen-year-old son, Ludwig II, became King of Bavaria as tensions between Austria and Prussia escalated steadily. Prussian Minister-President Otto von Bismarck, recognizing the immediate likelihood of war, tried to keep Bavaria neutral. Ludwig II refused Bismarck's offers and continued Bavaria's alliance with Austria. In 1866, the Austro-Prussian War began. Bavaria and most of the south German states allied with Austria, but contributed far less to the war against Prussia.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: Prussia quickly defeated the Kingdom of Hanover, then won the Battle of Königgrätz (3 July 1866) against Austria, which was totally defeated by Prussia shortly afterward. The states of the German Confederation had not agreed on a common strategy in the war. Their separate armies were therefore defeated in succession by Prussia.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: The Bavarian army was defeated in Lower Franconia at the Battle of Kissingen (10 July 1866). Prince Karl Theodor of Bavaria took command, but the Bavarians were decisively beaten at Uettingen (26 July 1866).


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: Austria was defeated, and the German Confederation was dissolved, ending Austria's influence over the lesser German states. Bavaria lost Gersfeld, Bad Orb and Kaulsdorf to Prussia; former two became part of the new province of Hesse-Nassau whereas the latter became part of Province of Saxony. From this time, Bavaria steadily progressed into Prussia's sphere of influence.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: With Austria's defeat in the Austro-Prussian War, the northern German states quickly unified into the North German Confederation, with the Prussian king leading the state. Bavaria's previous inhibitions towards Prussia changed, along with those of many of the south German states, after French emperor Napoleon III began speaking of France's need for "compensation" from its loss in 1814 and included Bavarian-held Palatinate as part of its territorial claims. Ludwig II joined an alliance with Prussia in 1870 against France, which was seen by Germans as the greatest enemy to a united Germany. At the same time, Bavaria increased its political, legal, and trade ties with the North German Confederation. In 1870, war erupted between France and Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War. The Bavarian Army was sent under the command of the Prussian crown prince against the French army.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: With France's defeat and humiliation against the combined German forces, it was Ludwig II who proposed that Prussian King Wilhelm I be proclaimed German Emperor or ""Kaiser"" of the German Empire (""Deutsches Reich""), which occurred in 1871 in German-occupied Versailles, France. The territories of the German Empire were declared, which included the states of the North German Confederation and all of the south German states, with the major exception of Austria. The Empire also annexed the formerly French territory of Alsace-Lorraine, due in large part to Ludwig's desire to move the French frontier away from the Palatinate.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: Bavaria's entry into the German Empire changed from jubilation over France's defeat to dismay shortly afterward because of the direction Germany took under the new German Chancellor and Prussian Prime Minister, Otto von Bismarck. The Bavarian delegation under Count Otto von Bray-Steinburg had secured a privileged status for the Kingdom of Bavaria within the German Empire ("Reservatrechte"). The Kingdom of Bavaria was even able to retain its own diplomatic body and its own army, which would fall under Prussian command only in times of war.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: After Bavaria's entry into the Empire, Ludwig II became increasingly detached from Bavaria's political affairs and spent vast amounts of money on personal projects, such as the construction of a number of fairytale castles and palaces, the most famous being the Wagnerian-style Castle Neuschwanstein. Ludwig used his personal wealth to finance these projects, and not state funds, and the construction projects landed him deeply in debt. These debts caused much concern among Bavaria's political elite, who sought to persuade Ludwig to cease his building; he refused, and relations between the government's ministers and the crown deteriorated.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: At last, in 1886, the crisis came to a head. A medical commission appointed by the cabinet declared Ludwig insane and thus incapable of reigning. His uncle, Prince Luitpold, was appointed as regent. A day after Ludwig's deposition, the king died mysteriously after asking the commission's chief psychiatrist to go on a walk with him along Lake Starnberg (then called Lake Würm). Ludwig and the psychiatrist were found dead, floating in the lake. The official autopsy listed cause of death as suicide by drowning, but some sources claim that no water was found in Ludwig's lungs. While these claims could be explained by dry drowning, they have also led to conspiracy theories of political assassination.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: The crown passed to Ludwig's brother Otto. However, Otto had a long history of mental illness and had been placed under medical supervision three years earlier. The duties of head of state actually rested in the hands of Prince Luitpold, who continued to serve as regent for Otto.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: During the regency of Prince-Regent Luitpold, from 1886 to 1912, relations between Bavaria and Prussia remained cold, with Bavarians remembering the anti-Catholic agenda of Bismarck's "Kulturkampf", as well as Prussia's strategic dominance over the empire. Bavaria protested Prussian dominance over Germany and snubbed the Prussian-born German Emperor, Wilhelm II, in 1900, by forbidding the flying of any other flag other than the Bavarian flag on public buildings for the Emperor's birthday, but this was swiftly modified afterwards, allowing the German imperial flag to be hung beside the Bavarian flag.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: The Catholic, conservative Patriotic Party founded in 1868 became the leading party in the Bavarian Landtag (Parliament). In 1887, its name was changed to Bavarian Centre. In 1893, the Social Democrats were elected to the parliament. From 1903, the University Education was also possible for female students. Electoral reforms changed the elections of the parliament from indirect to direct elections in 1906. With the Centre politician Georg von Hertling the Prince-Regent appointed to the head of government for the first time a representative of the Landtag's majority in 1912.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: Luitpold's years as regent were marked by tremendous artistic and cultural activity in Bavaria where they are known as the "Prinzregentenjahre" ("The Prince Regent Years"). In 1912, Luitpold died, and his son, Prince-Regent Ludwig, took over as regent. By then, it had long been apparent that Otto would never be able to reign, and sentiment grew for Ludwig to become king in his own right. On 6 November, a year after the Landtag passed a law allowing him to do so, Ludwig ended the regency, deposed Otto and declared himself King of Bavaria as Ludwig III.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: The "Prinzregentenzeit" ("prince's regent's time"), as the regency of Luitpold is often called, was due to the political passiveness of Luitpold an era of the gradual transfer of Bavarian interests behind those of the German empire. In connection with the unhappy end of the preceding rule of King Ludwig II this break in the Bavarian monarchy looked even stronger. Finally, the constitutional amendment of 1913 brought the determining break in the continuity of the king's rule in the opinion of historians, particularly as this change had been granted by the Landtag as a House of Representatives and meant therefore indirectly the first step from constitutional to the parliamentary monarchy. Today the connection of these two developments is regarded as a main cause for the unspectacular end of the Bavarian kingdom without opposition in the course of the November revolution of 1918. However the course of his 26-year regency Luitpold knew to overcome, by modesty, ability and popularity, the initial uneasiness of his subjects. These prince regent's years were transfigured, finally—above all in the retrospect – to a golden age of Bavaria, even if one mourned the "fairy tale king" Ludwig II furthermore what happens in a folkloric-nostalgic manner till this day.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: With the establishment of the German Empire, a series of conventions brought the bulk of the various state military forces directly under the administration of the Prussian War Ministry. Bavaria however maintained a degree of autonomy in peacetime, with its own two (later three) army corps remaining outside the Prussian order of battle. The Bavarian infantry and cavalry regiments retained their historic light blue and green uniforms, distinctive from the Prussian model adopted throughout most of the army. The individual Bavarian soldier swore an oath of loyalty to King Ludwig, though in wartime this pledge of obedience was extended to Kaiser Wilhelm as supreme commander. In July 1914, the Bavarian Army numbered 92,400 or 11 percent of the total Imperial Army.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: In 1914, a clash of alliances occurred over Austria-Hungary's invasion of Serbia following the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Bosnian Serb militant. Germany went to the side of its former rival-turned-ally, Austria-Hungary, and declared war on France and Russia. Following the German invasion of neutral Belgium the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. Initially, in Bavaria and all across Germany, many recruits flocked enthusiastically to the Army. At the outbreak of the war, King Ludwig III sent an official dispatch to Berlin, to express Bavaria's solidarity. Later Ludwig even claimed annexations for Bavaria (Alsace and the city of Antwerp in Belgium, to receive an access to the sea). His hidden agenda was to maintain the balance of power between Prussia and Bavaria within the German Empire after a victory. Over time, with a stalemated and bloody war on the western front, Bavarians, like many Germans, grew weary of the conflict.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: In 1917, the Bavarian Prime Minister Georg von Hertling became German Chancellor and Prime Minister of Prussia; Otto Ritter von Dandl became the new Prime Minister of Bavaria. Accused of showing blind loyalty to Prussia, Ludwig III became increasingly unpopular during the war. In 1918, the kingdom attempted to negotiate a separate peace with the allies but failed. By 1918, civil unrest was spreading across Bavaria and Germany, Bavarian defiance to Prussian hegemony and Bavarian separatism being key motivators.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: On 7 November 1918, Ludwig fled from the Residenz Palace in Munich with his family. He was the first of the monarchs in the German Empire to be deposed; only days later, the Kaiser abdicated the German throne. Ludwig took up residence in Austria for what was intended to be a temporary stay. On 12 November, he issued the Anif declaration, declaring that under the circumstances, he was "in no position to lead the government." Accordingly, he released his soldiers and officials from their oath to him. Although he never formally abdicated, the socialist-led government of Kurt Eisner took Ludwig's declaration as such and declared the House of Wittelsbach deposed. With this, the 700-year rule of the Wittelsbach dynasty came to an end, and the former Kingdom of Bavaria became the People's State of Bavaria.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: The funeral of Ludwig III in 1921 was feared or hoped to spark a restoration of the monarchy. Despite the abolition of the monarchy, the former King was laid to rest in front of the former royal family, the Bavarian government, military personnel, and an estimated 100,000 spectators, in the style of royal funerals. Prince Rupprecht did not wish to use the occasion of the passing of his father to attempt to reestablish the monarchy by force, preferring to do so by legal means. Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber, Archbishop of Munich, in his funeral speech, made a clear commitment to the monarchy while Rupprecht only declared that he had stepped into his birthright.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: When Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire, and Bavaria became a kingdom in 1806, its land area doubled. Tyrol (1805–1814) and Salzburg (1810–1816) were temporarily united with Bavaria but then returned (Tyrol) or ceded (Salzburg) to Habsburg/Austrian rule. In return the Rhenish Palatinate and Franconia were annexed to Bavaria in 1815.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: After the founding of the kingdom the state was totally reorganised and, in 1808, divided into 15 administrative government districts ("Regierungsbezirke" (singular "Regierungsbezirk")) in Bavaria called "Kreise" (singular "Kreis"). They were created in the fashion of the French departements, quite even in size and population, and named after their main rivers: Altmühl-, Eisack-, Etsch-, Iller-, Inn-, Isar-, Lech-, Main-, Naab-, Oberdonau-, Pegnitz-, Regen-, Rezat-, Salzach- and Unterdonaukreis


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: Because of the numerous territorial changes in 1810 and 1815, the divisions needed to be adjusted and the number of Kreise was reduced to 8: Isar-, Unterdonau-, Oberdonau-, Regen-, Rezat-, Untermain-, Obermain- and Rheinkreis.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: As of 1838, at the instigation of King Ludwig I, the Kreise were renamed after the former historical tribes and territories of the respective area in: "Upper Bavaria", "Lower Bavaria", "Swabia and Neuburg", "Upper Palatinate and Regensburg", "Middle Franconia", "Lower Franconia and Aschaffenburg", "Upper Franconia" and "Palatinate". The town names of Neuburg, Regensburg and Aschaffenburg were later dropped.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: Accordingly, the king changed his royal titles to "Ludwig, King of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia, Duke in Swabia and Count Palatine of the Rhine" and these were retained by his successors. The Palatinate (formerly Rheinkreis) which Bavaria had acquired was mainly the western part of the former Electorate of the Palatinate. Ludwig's plan to acquire also the former eastern part could not be realized. The Electorate, a former dominion of the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty, had been split up in 1815, the eastern bank of the Rhine with Mannheim and Heidelberg was given to Baden. The western bank was granted to Bavaria as compensation for the loss of Tyrol and Salzburg.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: After the Austro-Prussian War (1866) in which Bavaria had sided with defeated Austria, it had to cede several Lower Franconian districts to Prussia. The duchy of Coburg was never part of the Kingdom of Bavaria since it was annexed to Bavaria only in 1920. Ostheim was added to Bavaria in 1945.


title: Kingdom of Bavaria

text: In the first half of the 20th. century, the initial terminology of Kreis and Bezirk gave way to Regierungsbezirk and Landkreis.


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated separately by Getlink.


title: Eurostar

text: The London terminus is London St Pancras International; the other and since suspended British calling points used to be Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International in Kent. Intermediate calling points in France are Calais-Fréthun and Lille-Europe. Trains to Paris terminate at Paris-Nord. Trains to Belgium and the Netherlands serve Brussels-South and Rotterdam Centraal, before terminating at Amsterdam Centraal. Additionally, in France there are direct services from London to Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy (Disneyland Paris) until June 2023 and seasonal direct services to the French Alps in winter.


title: Eurostar

text: The service is operated by 11 Class 373/1 trainsets, each with 18 coaches, and 17 Class 374 trainsets, each with 16 coaches. The trains run at up to on high-speed lines. The LGV Nord high-speed line in France opened before Eurostar services began in 1994, and newer lines enabling faster journeys were added later: HSL 1 in Belgium and High Speed 1 in south-east England. The French and Belgian parts of the network are shared with Paris–Brussels Thalys services and TGV trains.


title: Eurostar

text: In December 2021, Eurostar said it intended to move its administrative activities from London to Brussels as part of a forthcoming merger with Thalys which was approved in March 2022, citing problems with doing business in the UK and stating that being based in an EU country would make expansion and development easier.


title: Eurostar

text: The history of Eurostar can be traced to the choice in 1986 of a rail tunnel to provide a cross-channel link between Britain and France. A previous attempt to construct a tunnel between the two nations had begun in 1974, but was quickly aborted. Construction began afresh in 1988. Eurotunnel was created to manage and own the tunnel, which was finished in 1993, the official opening taking place on 6 May 1994.


title: Eurostar

text: In addition to the tunnel's shuttle trains carrying cars and lorries between Folkestone and Calais, the tunnel opened up the possibility of through passenger and freight train services between places further afield. British Rail and SNCF contracted with Eurotunnel to use half the tunnel's capacity for this purpose. In 1987, Britain, France and Belgium set up an International Project Group to specify a train to provide an international high-speed passenger service through the tunnel. France had been operating high-speed TGV services since 1981, and had begun construction of a new high-speed line between Paris and the Channel Tunnel, LGV Nord; French TGV technology was chosen as the basis for the new trains. An order for 30 trainsets, to be manufactured in France but with some British and Belgian components, was placed in December 1989. On 20 June 1993, the first Eurostar test train travelled through the tunnel to the UK. Various technical difficulties in running the new trains on British tracks were quickly overcome.


title: Eurostar

text: On 14 November 1994, Eurostar services began running from Waterloo International station in London, to Paris-Nord in Paris, and Brussels-South railway station in Brussels. The train service started with a limited "Discovery" service; the full daily service started from 28 May 1995.


title: Eurostar

text: On 8 January 1996, Eurostar launched services from a second railway station in the UK when Ashford International was opened.


title: Eurostar

text: Also in 1996, Eurostar commenced its year-round service to Disneyland with the first train running on 29 June. The following year saw the introduction of services to the French Alps during the winter.


title: Eurostar

text: On 20 July 2002 a summer seasonal service to Avignon-Centre was launched. The service ran until 2014 after which it was replaced on 1 May 2015 by an expanded service calling at Avignon TGV and also serving Lyon and Marseille.


title: Eurostar

text: On 23 September 2003, passenger services began running on the first completed section of High Speed 1. Following a high-profile glamorous opening ceremony and a large advertising campaign, on 14 November 2007, Eurostar services in London transferred from Waterloo to the extended and extensively refurbished London St Pancras International.


title: Eurostar

text: One-way services from London to Amsterdam (returning to Brussels only) were launched on 4 April 2018. This services was made a return service on 26 October 2020.


title: Eurostar

text: The Channel Tunnel used by Eurostar services holds the record for having the longest underwater section of any tunnel in the world, and it is the third-longest railway tunnel (behind the Seikan Tunnel and the Gotthard Base Tunnel) in the world.


title: Eurostar

text: On 30 July 2003, a Eurostar train set a new British speed record of on the first section of the "High Speed 1" railway between the Channel Tunnel, and Fawkham Junction in north Kent, two months before official public services began running.


title: Eurostar

text: On 16 May 2006, Eurostar set a new record for the longest non-stop high-speed journey, a distance of from London to Cannes taking 7 hours 25 minutes.


title: Eurostar

text: On 4 September 2007, a record-breaking train left Paris-Nord at 10:44 (09:44 BST) and reached London St Pancras International in 2 hours 3 minutes 39 seconds, carrying journalists and railway workers. This record trip was also the first passenger-carrying arrival at the new London St Pancras International station. On 20 September 2007, Eurostar broke another record when it completed the journey from Brussels to London in 1 hour 43 minutes.


title: Eurostar

text: The original proposals for Eurostar included direct services to Paris and Brussels from cities north of London: Manchester Piccadilly via Birmingham New Street on the West Coast Main Line and Leeds and via Edinburgh Waverley, Newcastle and on the East Coast Main Line.


title: Eurostar

text: Seven 14-coach "North of London" Eurostar trains for these Regional Eurostar services were built, but these services never came to fruition. Predicted journey times of almost nine hours for Glasgow to Paris at the time of growth of low-cost air travel during the 1990s made the plans commercially unviable against the cheaper and quicker airlines. Other reasons that have been suggested for these services having never been run were both government policies and the disruptive privatisation of British Rail. Three of the Regional Eurostar units were leased by Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) to increase domestic services from London King's Cross to York and later Leeds. The lease expired in December 2005, and most of the NoL sets were transferred to SNCF for TGV services in northern France.


title: Eurostar

text: An international Nightstar sleeper train was also planned; this would have travelled the same routes as Regional Eurostar, plus the Great Western Main Line to . These were also deemed commercially unviable, and the scheme was abandoned with no services ever operated. In 2000, the coaches were sold to Via Rail in Canada.


title: Eurostar

text: Once Ebbsfleet International railway station, also designed to serve Kent, had opened, only three trains a day to Paris-Nord and one to Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy called at Ashford International for a considerable period of time. There were fears that services at Ashford International might be further reduced or withdrawn altogether as Eurostar planned to make Ebbsfleet International the new regional hub instead. However, after a period during which no Brussels-South trains served the station, to the dissatisfaction of the local communities, Eurostar reintroduced a single daily Ashford–Brussels service on 23 February 2009.


title: Eurostar

text: On 1 September 2010, Eurostar was incorporated as a single corporate entity, Eurostar International Limited (EIL), replacing the joint operation between EUKL, SNCF and SNCB/NMBS. EIL is owned by SNCF (55%), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) (30%), Hermes Infrastructure (10%) and SNCB (5%).


title: Eurostar

text: In June 2014, the UK shareholding in Eurostar International Limited was transferred from London and Continental Railways / Department for Transport to HM Treasury. That October, it was announced that the UK government planned to raise £300 million by selling its stake. In March 2015, the UK government announced that it would sell its 40% share to an Anglo-Canadian consortium made up of the Caisse and Hermes Infrastructure. The sale was completed in May 2015.


title: Eurostar

text: In 2015, Eurostar threatened to require that cyclists take apart bicycles before they could be transported on the trains. Following criticism from Boris Johnson and cycling groups, Eurostar reversed the plans.


title: Eurostar

text: By March 2016, onboard entertainment was provided by GoMedia, including Wi-Fi connectivity and up to 300 hours of movies and television kept on the train's servers and accessed using the passenger's own devices: mobile phones, tablets, laptops etc. A tracker app allows customers to see where they are.


title: Eurostar

text: On 27 September 2019, the heads of two of Eurostar's major shareholders, Guillaume Pepy of SNCF, and the chair of SNCB, , publicised that Eurostar was planning to come together with its sister company the Franco-Belgian transnational rail service Thalys. The arrangement is to merge their operations under the working title of ""Green Speed"" and expand services outside the core London-Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam service, to create a grand Western European high-speed rail service covering the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, serving up to 30 million customers by 2030.


title: Eurostar

text: In September 2020, the merger between Thalys and Eurostar International was confirmed, a year after Thalys announced its intention to merge with the cross-Channel provider subject to gaining European Commission clearance, to form "Green Speed". SNCF and SNCB already hold a controlling shareholding in Eurostar. In October 2021, it was announced that, following the completion of the merger, the Thalys brand would be discontinued, with all of the new operation's services to be operated under the Eurostar name but with each service's own liveries.


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar is also intending to merge with Thalys administratively, combining ticket sales in a single system.


title: Eurostar

text: By January 2021, Eurostar ridership went down to less than 1% of pre-pandemic levels. The combined financial troubles and lack of ridership caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led to Eurostar seeking governmental assistance from Britain's Treasury and Department for Transport, even though Britain sold its 40% Eurostar holding in 2015. Eurostar's appeal included granting the company access to Bank of England-backed loans and a temporary reduction in track access charges for use of the UK's high-speed rail line. Despite being majority-owned by the French state railway, SNCF, Eurostar was thought to have already exhausted options for governmental assistance from Paris, but both the French transport minister and the UK Department for Transport confirmed they were working on further plans to maintain the service.


title: Eurostar

text: In March 2020, Eurostar placed all of their Class 373 or E300 into storage due to reduced operations. As of January 2022 the sets recommenced testing on HS1, before returning to service on 21 February.


title: Eurostar

text: LGV Nord is a French -long high-speed rail line that connects Paris to the Belgian border and the Channel Tunnel via Lille. It opened in 1993.


title: Eurostar

text: Its extensions to Belgium and towards Paris, as well as connecting to the Channel Tunnel, have made LGV Nord a part of every Eurostar journey undertaken. A Belgian high-speed line, HSL 1, was added to the end of LGV Nord, at the Belgian border, in 1997. Of all French high-speed lines, LGV Nord sees the widest variety of high-speed rolling stock and is quite busy; a proposed cut-off bypassing Lille, which would reduce Eurostar journey times to Paris, is called LGV Picardie.


title: Eurostar

text: The Channel Tunnel is the most important part of the route as it is the only rail connection between Great Britain and the European mainland. It joins LGV Nord in France with High Speed One in Britain. Tunnelling began in 1988, and the tunnel was officially opened by British sovereign Queen Elizabeth II and the French President François Mitterrand at a ceremony in Calais on 6 May 1994.


title: Eurostar

text: In 1996, the American Society of Civil Engineers named the tunnel as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.


title: Eurostar

text: Along the current route of the Eurostar service, line speeds are except within the Channel Tunnel, where a reduced speed of applies for safety reasons.


title: Eurostar

text: Since the launch of Eurostar services, severe disruptions and cancellations have been caused by fires breaking out within the Channel Tunnel, such as in 1996, 2006 (minor), 2008 and 2015.


title: Eurostar

text: Until the opening on 2 June 1996, of the first phase of the Belgian high speed line, Eurostar trains were routed via the Belgian railway line 94. The Eurostar routes still use the line as a diversion if engineering works are taking place on HSL1, depending where it is. The 06:13 from London St Pancras to Brussels still uses the line as a diversion to bypass the peak time disruptions on HSL1 due to the extra TGV services from Brussels for the commuters. After 2 June 1996, some Eurostars to Brussels were routed via the first phase of the Belgian High Speed line and the Belgian railway line 78 via Mons. Although this line is still as a diversion if HSL1 is doing engineering, also depending where the maintenance is taking place. Journey times between London and Brussels were improved when an Belgian high-speed line, HSL 1, opened on 14 December 1997. It links with LGV Nord on the border with France, allowing Eurostar trains heading to Brussels to make the transition between the two without having to reduce speed. A further four-minute improvement for London–Brussels trains was achieved in December 2006, with the opening of the Brussels South Viaduct. Linking the international platforms of Brussels-South railway station with the high-speed line, the viaduct separates Eurostar (and Thalys) from local services.


title: Eurostar

text: High Speed 1 (HS1), formerly known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway line running from London through Kent to the British end of the Channel Tunnel.


title: Eurostar

text: It was built in two stages. The first section between the tunnel and Fawkham Junction in north Kent opened in September 2003, cutting London–Paris journey times by 21 minutes to 2 hours 35 minutes, and London–Brussels to 2 hours 20 minutes. On 14 November 2007, commercial services began over the whole of the new HS1 line. The redeveloped London St Pancras International station became the new London terminus for all Eurostar services.


title: Eurostar

text: The completion of High Speed 1 has brought the British part of Eurostar's route up to the same standards as the French and Belgian high-speed lines. Non-stop journey times were reduced by a further 20 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes for London–Paris and 1 hour 51 minutes for London–Brussels. As of Autumn 2020, HS1 is the UK's first renewable-powered railway.


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar offers up to fifteen weekday London – Paris services (nineteen on Fridays) including nine non-stop (thirteen on Fridays). There are also nine (ten on Friday) London–Brussels services, of which two run non-stop (continuing to Amsterdam) and a further two call at Lille only. One service daily operates to Amsterdam via Brussels and Rotterdam, also calling at Lille. In addition, there is a return trip from London to Marne-la-Vallée - Chessy for Disneyland Paris, which runs 4 times a week with increased frequency during school holidays, however this will cease from 6 June 2023 and its future is unknown. There are also seasonal services: in the winter, "Snow trains", aimed at skiers, to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Aime-la-Plagne and Moûtiers in the Alps; these run weekly, arriving in the alps in the evening and leaving the same evening to arrive in London the following morning. In February 2018, Eurostar announced the start of its long-planned service from London to Amsterdam, with an initial two trains per day from April of that year running between St Pancras and Amsterdam Centraal. This launched as a one-way service, with return trains carrying passengers to Rotterdam and Brussels Midi/Zuid, making a 28-minute stop (which was not deemed long enough to process UK-bound passengers) and then carrying different passengers from Brussels to London. Initially passengers travelling back took a Thalys service to Brussels Midi/Zuid where they could join the Eurostar. This was due to the lack of facilities for juxtaposed controls by the UK Border Force at Amsterdam Centraal and Rotterdam Centraal. On 4 February 2020, the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, and the UK Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, announced that juxtaposed controls would be established at Amsterdam Centraal and Rotterdam Centraal. The direct train from Amsterdam was originally due to launch on 30 April 2020, and from Rotterdam on 18 May 2020, although it was later postponed to 26 October 2020 for both cities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Eurostar

text: Since 14 November 2007, all Eurostar trains have been routed via High Speed 1 to or from the redeveloped London terminus at London St Pancras International, which at a cost of £800 million was extensively rebuilt and extended to cope with long Eurostar trains.


title: Eurostar

text: It had been intended to retain some Eurostar services at Waterloo International, but this was ruled out on cost grounds.


title: Eurostar

text: Completion of High Speed 1 increased the potential number of trains serving London. Separation of Eurostar from British domestic services through Kent meant that timetabling was no longer affected by peak-hour restrictions.


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar's fares were significantly higher in its early years; the cheapest fare in 1994 was £99 return.


title: Eurostar

text: In 2002, Eurostar was planning cheaper fares, an example of which was an offer of £50-day returns from London to Paris or Brussels.


title: Eurostar

text: By March 2003, the cheapest fare from the UK was £59 return, available all year around. In June 2009 it was announced that one-way single fares would be available at £31 at the cheapest. Competition between Eurostar and airline services was a large factor in ticket prices being reduced from the initial levels.


title: Eurostar

text: Business Premier fares also slightly undercut air fares on similar routes, targeted at regular business travellers.


title: Eurostar

text: In 2009, Eurostar greatly increased its budget ticket availability to help maintain and grow its dominant market share.


title: Eurostar

text: The Eurostar ticketing system is very complex, being distributed through no fewer than 48 individual sales systems.


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar is a member of the Amadeus CRS distribution system, making its tickets available alongside those of airlines worldwide.


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar has two sub-classes of first class: Standard Premier and Business Premier; benefits include guaranteed faster checking-in and meals served at-seat, as well as the improved furnishings and interior of carriages.


title: Eurostar

text: The rebranding is part of Eurostar's marketing drive to attract more business professionals. Increasingly, business people in a group have been chartering private carriages as opposed to individual seats on the train.


title: Eurostar

text: Without the operation of Regional Eurostar services using the North of London trainsets across the rest of Britain, Eurostar has developed its connections with other transport services instead, such as integrating effectively with traditional UK rail operators' schedules and routes, making it possible for passengers to use Eurostar as a quick connection to further destinations on the continent.


title: Eurostar

text: All three main terminals used by the Eurostar service – St Pancras International, Paris Gare du Nord, and Brussels Midi/Zuid – are served by domestic trains and by local urban transport networks such as the London Underground and the Paris Metro. Standard Eurostar tickets no longer include free onward connections to or from any other station in Belgium: this is now available for a flat-rate supplement, currently £5.50.


title: Eurostar

text: most notably Thalys connections at Lille and Brussels for passengers to go beyond current Eurostar routes towards the Netherlands and Germany.


title: Eurostar

text: In 2002, Eurostar initiated the Eurostar-Plus program, offering connecting tickets for onward journeys from Lille and Paris to dozens of destinations in France.


title: Eurostar

text: Through fares are also available from 68 British towns and cities to destinations in France and Belgium.


title: Eurostar

text: In May 2009 Eurostar announced that a formal connection to Switzerland had been established in a partnership between Eurostar and Lyria, which will operate TGV services from Lille to the Swiss Alps for Eurostar connection.


title: Eurostar

text: In May 2019, Eurostar ended its agreement with Deutsche Bahn that allowed passengers to travel by train from the UK to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Under the agreement passengers could travel on a single booking which made rescheduling easier. However, the direct tickets ceased to be sold from 9 November 2019.


title: Eurostar

text: Because the UK is not part of the European Union or the Schengen Area, and because the Netherlands, Belgium and France are not part of the Common Travel Area, all Eurostar passengers must go through border controls. Both the British Government and the Schengen governments concerned (Belgium, Netherlands and France) have legal obligations to check the travel documents of those entering and leaving their respective countries.


title: Eurostar

text: To allow passengers to walk off the train without arrival checks in most cases, juxtaposed controls ordinarily take place at the embarkation station.


title: Eurostar

text: To comply with UK law, there are full security checks similar to those at airports, scanning both bags and people's pockets. The recommended check-in time is 90–120 minutes except for business class where it is 45–60 minutes; these are much longer than previously because of extra checks in place due to Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar passengers travelling within the Schengen area on trains towards London bypass border checks, and enter the preallocated cars at the rear of the train, which are reserved for these passengers. This area is then searched at Lille and all passengers removed. This arrangement was set up after numerous people entered the UK without prior authorisation, by buying a ticket from Brussels to Lille or Calais but remaining on the train until London – an issue exacerbated by Belgian police threatening to arrest UK Border Agency staff at Brussels-South if they tried to prevent passengers whom they suspected of attempting to exploit this loophole from boarding Eurostar trains. Travel from Calais or Lille towards Brussels and the Netherlands has no border or security control. On 7 July 2020 a modified agreement was signed in Brussels that includes The Netherlands in the previous agreement. This allows for juxtaposed controls in Amsterdam and Rotterdam like those in Brussels and Paris.


title: Eurostar

text: When the tripartite agreements were signed, the Belgian Government said that it had serious questions about the compatibility of this agreement with the Schengen Convention and the principle of free movement of people enshrined in various European treaties.


title: Eurostar

text: On 30 June 2009 Eurostar raised concerns at the UK House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee that it was illegal under French law to collect the information required by the UK government under the e-Borders scheme, and the company would be unable to cooperate.


title: Eurostar

text: On the northbound Disneyland and ski trains, the security check and French passport check take place at the origin, while the UK passport check takes place at the UK arrival stations. These are the only route where passengers are not cleared by UK border officials before crossing the Channel.


title: Eurostar

text: On the northbound Marseille-London train, there is no facility for security or passport checks at the southern French stations, so passengers must leave the train at Lille-Europe, taking all their belongings with them, and undergo security and border checks there before rejoining the train which waits at the station for just over an hour.


title: Eurostar

text: On several occasions, people have tried to stow away illegally on board the train, sometimes in large groups, trying to enter the UK; border monitoring and security is therefore extremely tight.


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar's punctuality has fluctuated from year to year, but usually remains over 90%; in the first quarter of 1999, 89% of services operated were on time, and in the second quarter it reached 92%. Eurostar's best punctuality record was 97.35%, between 16 and 22 August 2004. In 2006, it was 92.7%, and in 2007, 91.5% were on time. In the first quarter of 2009, 96% of Eurostar services were punctual, compared with rival air routes' 76%.


title: Eurostar

text: An advantage held by Eurostar is the convenience and speed of the service: with shorter check-in times than at most airports and hence quicker boarding and less queueing and high punctuality, it takes less time to travel between central London and central Paris by high-speed rail than by air. Eurostar now has a dominant share of the combined rail–air market on its routes to Paris and Brussels. In 2004, it had a 66% share of the London–Paris market, and a 59% share of the London–Brussels market. In 2007, it achieved record market shares of 71% for London–Paris and 65% for London–Brussels routes.


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar's passenger numbers initially failed to meet predictions. In 1996, London and Continental Railways forecast that passenger numbers would reach 21.4 million annually by 2004, but only 7.3 million was achieved. 82 million passengers used Waterloo International Station from its opening in 1994 to its closure in 2007. 2008 was a record year for Eurostar, with a 10.3% rise in passenger use, which was attributed to the use of High Speed 1 and the move to St Pancras. The following year, Eurostar saw an 11.5% fall in passenger numbers during the first three months of 2009, attributed to the 2008 Channel Tunnel fire and the 2009 recession.


title: Eurostar

text: As a result of the poor economic conditions, Eurostar received state aid in May 2009 to cancel out some of the accumulated debt from the High Speed 1 construction programme. Later that year, during snowy conditions in the run-up to Christmas, thousands of passengers were left stranded as several trains broke down and many more were cancelled. In an independent review commissioned by Eurostar, the company came in for serious criticism about its handling of the incident and lack of plans for such a scenario.


title: Eurostar

text: In 2006, the Department for Transport predicted that, by 2037, annual cross-channel passenger numbers would probably reach 16 million, considerably less optimistic than London and Continental Railways's original 1996 forecast. In 2007 Eurostar set a target of carrying 10 million passengers by 2010.


title: Eurostar

text: The company cited several factors to support this objective, such as improved journey times, punctuality and station facilities. Passengers in general, it stated, are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental effects of air travel, and Eurostar services emit much less carbon dioxide. and that its remaining carbon emissions are now offset, making its services carbon neutral. Further expansion of the high-speed rail network in Europe, such as the HSL-Zuid line between Belgium and the Netherlands, continues to bring more destinations within rail-competitive range, giving Eurostar the possibility of opening up new services in future.


title: Eurostar

text: The following chart presents the estimated number of passengers annually transported by the Eurostar service since 1995:


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar has been hailed as having set new standards in international rail travel and has won praise several times over for its high standards. However, Eurostar had previously struggled with its reputation and brand image. One commentator had defined the situation at the time as:


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar won the Train Operator of the Year award in the HSBC Rail Awards for 2005. In 2006, Eurostar's Environment Group was set up, with the aim of making changes in the Eurostar services' daily running to decrease negative environmental impact. The organization set itself a target of reducing carbon emissions per passenger journey by 25% by 2012. Drivers were trained in techniques to achieve maximum energy efficiency, and lighting was minimised; the provider of the bulk of the energy for the Channel Tunnel was switched to nuclear power stations in France. Eurostar's target was to reduce emissions by 35 percent per passenger journey by 2012, putting itself beyond the efforts of other railway companies in this field and thereby winning the 2007 Network Rail Efficiency Award. In the grand opening ceremony of St Pancras International, one of the Eurostar trains was given the name 'Tread Lightly', said to symbolise their smaller impact on the environment compared to planes. By 2008, Eurostar's environmental credentials had become highly developed and promoted.


title: Eurostar

text: Since then, Eurostar has received multiple awards. It was declared the Best Train Company in the joint Guardian/Observer Travel Awards 2008 and earned a spot on the Sunday Times' Best Green Companies List (2009). Other awards include: ICARUS’ Environmental Award for Best Rail Provider (2009), Guardian & Observer Travel Award for Best Train Company (2009), Travel Weekly's Golden Globes Award for Best Rail Operator (2010), World Travel Market's Responsible Tourism Award for Best Low Carbon Initiative (2011), TNT Magazine's Gold Backpack Award for Favourite Travel Transport (2012), World Travel Awards Europe's Leading Passenger Rail Operator (2011), National Rail Awards Train of the Year (2017), PETA's Travel Award for Best Travel Experience (2019), Mobile Industry Awards' Distributor of the Year (2020).


title: Eurostar

text: "Tread Lightly," an environmental programme with the goal of reducing the service's carbon-dioxide emissions by 25% by 2012. The programme included: reducing power consumption on its rolling stock; sourcing more electricity from lower-emission generators; adding new controls on lighting, heating, and air conditioning; reducing paper usage via electronic tickets; recycling water and employee uniforms; sourcing all food on board from Britain, France, or Belgium. Eurostar also funded three renewable energy projects in developing regions around the world: a windfarm in Tamil Nadu, India; a micro-hydropower project in China; and a plan specifying improvements on fuel consumption of three-wheeler taxis in Indonesia.


title: Eurostar

text: In 2019, Eurostar removed all single-use plastics from its trains between London and Paris. Now the trains serve only wooden cutlery, recyclable cans of water, glass wine bottles, paper-based coffee cups, and eco-friendly food packaging. Eurostar partnered with the Woodland Trust, ReforestAction, and Trees for All in 2020, with the goal of planting 20,000 trees each year in woodlands along its routes across the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Since Tread Lightly launched, Eurostar has reduced its carbon footprint by over 40% and now emits up to 90% less greenhouse gas emissions than the equivalent flight.


title: Eurostar

text: Since 2010, Eurostar has been operated by Eurostar International Limited (EIL), a company owned since April 2022 by Eurostar Group.


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar is a member of Railteam, a marketing alliance formed in July 2007 of seven European high-speed rail operators.


title: Eurostar

text: The alliance plans to allow tickets to be booked from one end of Europe to the other on a single website. In June 2009 London and Continental Railways, and the Eurostar UK operations they held ownership of, became fully nationalised by the UK government.


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar is not permitted to carry passengers on journeys within a country, so passengers cannot travel (for example) from Lille to Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy, London to Ashford, or Rotterdam to Amsterdam. Lille to Brussels is the only international intra-Schengen journey that Eurostar is offering for sale.


title: Eurostar

text: In addition to its multiple unit fleet units, Eurostar operates a single Class 08 diesel shunter as the pilot at Temple Mills depot.


title: Eurostar

text: Built between 1992 and 1996, Eurostar's fleet consisted of 38 EMU trains, designated Class 373 in the United Kingdom and TGV TMST in France. The units have also been branded as the Eurostar e300 by Eurostar since 2015. There are two variants:


title: Eurostar

text: Each train has a unique four-digit number starting with "3" (3xxx). This designates the train as a Mark 3 TGV (Mark 1 being SNCF TGV Sud-Est; Mark 2 being SNCF TGV Atlantique). The second digit denotes the country of ownership:


title: Eurostar

text: The trains are essentially modified TGV sets, and can operate at up to on high-speed lines, and in the Channel Tunnel. It is possible to exceed the 300 km/h speed limit, but only with special permission from the safety authorities in the respective country.


title: Eurostar

text: Speed limits in the Channel Tunnel are dictated by air-resistance, energy (heat) dissipation and the need to be used with other, slower trains. The trains were designed with Channel Tunnel safety in mind, and consist of two independent "half-sets" each with its own power car. In the event of a serious fire on board while travelling through the tunnel, passengers would be transferred into the undamaged half of the train, which would then be detached and driven out of the tunnel to safety.


title: Eurostar

text: If the undamaged part were the rear half of the train, this would be driven by the Chef du Train, who is a fully authorised driver and occupies the rear driving cab while the train travels through the tunnel for this purpose.


title: Eurostar

text: As 27 of the 31 Inter-Capital sets were sufficient to operate the service, four were used by SNCF for domestic TGV services. The Eurostar logos were removed from these sets, but the base colours of white, black, and yellow remained.


title: Eurostar

text: As the Class 374 units have entered service the Class 373 fleet has gradually been reduced. 11 remain in regular service with 17 scrapped and 10 in store.


title: Eurostar

text: In 2004–2005 the "Inter-Capital" sets still in daily use for international services were refurbished with a new interior designed by Philippe Starck.


title: Eurostar

text: The original grey-yellow scheme in Standard class and grey-red of First/Premium First were replaced with a grey-brown look in Standard and grey-burnt-orange in First class. Power points were added to seats in First class and coaches 5 and 14 in Standard class. Premium First class was renamed BusinessPremier.


title: Eurostar

text: In 2008, Eurostar announced that it would be carrying out a mid-life refurbishment of its Class 373 trains to allow the fleet to remain in service beyond 2020.


title: Eurostar

text: This will include the 28 units making up the Eurostar fleet, but not the three Class 373/1 units used by SNCF or the seven Class 373/2 "North of London" sets.


title: Eurostar

text: As part of the refurbishment, the Italian company Pininfarina was contracted to redesign the interiors, and The Yard Creative was selected to design the new buffet cars.


title: Eurostar

text: The first refurbished train was due in service in 2012, and Eurostar planned to complete the entire process by 2014. On 13 November 2014 Eurostar announced the first refurbished trains would not re-enter the fleet until the 3rd or 4th quarter of 2015 due to delays at the completion centre. The last refurbished "e300" eventually re-entered service in April 2019.


title: Eurostar

text: In addition to the announced mid-life update of the existing Class 373 fleet, Eurostar in 2009 reportedly entered prequalification bids for eight new trainsets to be purchased. Any new trains would need to meet the same safety rules governing passage through the Channel Tunnel as the existing Class 373 fleet. The replacement to the Class 373 trains has been decided jointly between the French Transport Ministry and the UK Department for Transport. The new trains will be equipped to use the new ERTMS in-cab signalling system, due to be fitted to High Speed 1 around 2040.


title: Eurostar

text: On 7 October 2010, it was reported that Eurostar had selected Siemens as preferred bidder to supply 10 Siemens Velaro e320 trainsets at a cost of €600 million (and a total investment of more than £700 million with the refurbishment of the existing fleet included) to operate an expanded route network, including services from London to Cologne and Amsterdam. These would be sixteen-car, long trainsets built to meet current Channel Tunnel regulations. The top speed will be and they will have 894–950 seats, unlike the current fleet built by the French company Alstom, which has a top speed of and a seating capacity of 750. Total traction power will be rated at 16 MW.


title: Eurostar

text: The nomination of Siemens would see it break into the French high-speed market for the first time, as all French and French subsidiary high-speed operators use TGV derivatives produced by Alstom. Alstom attempted legal action to prevent Eurostar from acquiring German-built trains, claiming that the Siemens sets ordered would breach Channel Tunnel safety rules, but this was thrown out of court. Alstom said, after its High Court defeat, that it would "pursue alternative legal options to uphold its position". On 4 November 2010, the company lodged a complaint with the European Commission over the tendering process, which then asked the British government for "clarification". Alstom then announced it had started legal action against Eurostar, again in the High Court in London.


title: Eurostar

text: In July 2011, the High Court rejected Alstom's claim that the tender process was "ineffective", and in April 2012 Alstom said it would call off pending court actions against Siemens. This effectively freed the way for Siemens to build the new Eurostar trains, the first of which were expected to enter service in late 2015.


title: Eurostar

text: On 13 November 2014 Eurostar announced the purchase of an additional seven e320s for delivery in the second half of 2016. At the same time, Eurostar announced the first five e320s from the original order of ten would be available by December 2015, with the remaining five entering service by May 2016. Of the five sets ready by December 2015, three of them were planned to be used on London-Paris and London-Brussels routes.


title: Eurostar

text: In 2005, the chief executive of Eurostar, Richard Brown, suggested that existing Eurostar trains could be replaced by double-deck trains similar to the TGV Duplex units when they are withdrawn from service. According to Brown, a double-deck fleet could carry 40 million passengers per year from Britain to Continental Europe, equivalent to adding an extra runway at a London airport.


title: Eurostar

text: A number of technical incidents have affected Eurostar services over the years, but there has only been one major accident involving a service operated by Eurostar, a derailment in June 2000. Other incidents in the Channel Tunnel – such as the 1996 and 2008 Channel Tunnel fires – have affected Eurostar services but were not directly related to Eurostar's operations. However, the breakdowns in the tunnel, which resulted in cessation of service and inconvenience to thousands of passengers, in the run-up to Christmas 2009, proved a public-relations disaster.


title: Eurostar

text: There have been several minor incidents with a few Eurostar services. In October 1994 there were teething problems relating to the start of operations. The first preview train, carrying 400 members of the press and media, was delayed for two hours by technical problems.


title: Eurostar

text: On 29 May 2002 a Eurostar train was initially sent down a wrong line – towards London Victoria railway station instead of Waterloo International – causing the service to arrive 25 minutes late. A signalling error that led to the incorrect routeing was stated to have caused "no risk" as a result.


title: Eurostar

text: On 11 April 2006, a house collapsed next to a railway line near London which caused Eurostar services to have to terminate and start from Ashford International instead of Waterloo International. Passengers waiting at Waterloo International were initially directed on to local trains towards Ashford leaving from the adjacent London Waterloo East railway station, until overcrowding occurred at Ashford.


title: Eurostar

text: Approximately 1,000 passengers were trapped in darkness for several hours inside two Eurostar trains on the night of 19/20 February 1996. The trains stopped inside the tunnels due to electronic failures caused by snow and ice. Questions were raised at the time about the ability of the train and tunnel electronics to withstand the mix of snow, salt and ice which collect in the tunnels during periods of extreme cold.


title: Eurostar

text: On 5 June 2000 a Eurostar train travelling from Paris to London derailed on the LGV Nord high-speed line while traveling at . Fourteen people were treated for light injuries or shock, with no fatalities or major injuries. The articulated nature of the trainset was credited with maintaining stability during the incident and all of the train stayed upright. The incident was caused by a traction link on the second bogie of the front power car coming loose, leading to components of the transmission system on that bogie impacting the track.


title: Eurostar

text: The first departures from London St Pancras International on 14 November 2007 coincided with an open-ended strike by French rail unions as part of general strike actions over proposed public-sector pension reforms. The trains were operated by uninvolved British employees and service was not interrupted.


title: Eurostar

text: On 23 September 2009 an overhead power line dropped on to a Class 373 train arriving at London St Pancras International station, activating a circuit breaker and delaying eleven other trains. Two days later, on 25 September 2009, electrical power via the overhead lines was lost on a section of high-speed line outside Lille, delaying passengers on two evening Eurostar-operated services.


title: Eurostar

text: During the December 2009 European snowfall, five Eurostar trains broke down inside the Channel Tunnel, after leaving France, and one in Kent on 18 December. Although the trains had been winterised, the systems had not coped with the conditions. Over 2,000 passengers were stuck inside failed trains inside the tunnel, and over 75,000 had their services disrupted. All Eurostar services were cancelled from Saturday 19 December to Monday 21 December 2009. An independent review, published on 12 February 2010, was critical of the contingency plans in place for assisting passengers stranded by the delays, calling them "insufficient".


title: Eurostar

text: On 7 January 2010 a Brussels-London train broke down in the Channel Tunnel, resulting in three other trains failing to complete their journeys. The cause of the failure was the onboard signalling system. Due to the severe weather, a limited service was operated in the next few days.


title: Eurostar

text: On 15 February 2010, services between Brussels and London were interrupted following the Halle train collision, this time after the dedicated HSL 1 lines in the suburbs of the Belgian capital were blocked by debris from a serious train crash on the suburban commuter lines alongside. No efforts were made to reroute trains around the blockage; Eurostar instead terminated services to Brussels at Lille, directing passengers to continue their journey on local trains. Brussels services resumed on a limited scale on 22 February.


title: Eurostar

text: On 21 February 2010 the 21:43 service from Paris to London broke down just outside Ashford International, stranding 740 passengers for several hours while a rescue train was called in.


title: Eurostar

text: On 15 April 2010 air traffic in Western Europe closed because of the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Many travellers between the UK and the European mainland instead took the Eurostar train, all tickets between Brussels and London on 15 and 16 April being sold out within 3½ hours after the closure of British airspace.


title: Eurostar

text: On 20 December 2010, the Channel Tunnel was closed off for a day due to snowy weather. Eurostar services were suspended that day with thousands of passengers stranded in the run up to Christmas.


title: Eurostar

text: On 17 October 2011 a man fell from the 17:04 service from London to Brussels as it passed through Westenhanger and Cheriton in Folkestone, near the entry to the Channel Tunnel. The individual was an Albanian who had been refused entry to the United Kingdom and was voluntarily returning to Brussels. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The line was closed for several hours following the incident. The train itself returned north to Ashford International, where passengers were transferred to a Eurostar service operating from Marne-la-Vallée to London.


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar trains do not currently call at , which was intended to be a London stop for the regional Eurostars when the station was constructed. This was to be reviewed following the 2012 Olympics. However, in 2013, Eurostar claimed that its 'business would be hit' by stopping trains there.


title: Eurostar

text: Although the original plan for Regional Eurostar services to destinations north of London was abandoned, the significantly improved journey times available since the opening of High Speed 1 — which is physically connected to both the East Coast Main Line and the North London Line (for the West Coast Main Line) at London St Pancras International – and the increased maximum speeds on the West Coast Main Line since the 2000s may make potential Regional Eurostar services more commercially viable. This would be even more likely if proposals are adopted for a new high-speed line from London to the north of Britain.


title: Eurostar

text: Simon Montague, Eurostar's Director of Communications, commented that: "...International services to the regions are only likely once High Speed 2 is built." However, as of 2014 the current plans for High Speed 2 do not allow for a direct rail link between that new line, and High Speed 1, meaning passengers would still be required to change at London Euston and take some form of transportation to London St Pancras International.


title: Eurostar

text: Key pieces of infrastructure still belong to LCR via its subsidiary London & Continental Stations and Property, such as the Manchester International Depot, and Eurostar (UK) still owns several track access rights and the rights to paths on both the East Coast Main Line and the West Coast Main Line.


title: Eurostar

text: While no announcement has been made of plans to start Regional Eurostar services, it remains a possibility for the future. In the meantime, the closest equivalent to Regional Eurostar services are same-station connections with East Midlands Railway and Thameslink, changing at London St Pancras International. The construction of a new concourse at adjacent London King's Cross improved interchange with St Pancras and provided London North Eastern Railway, Great Northern, Hull Trains and Grand Central services with easier connections to Eurostar.


title: Eurostar

text: Eurostar has already been involved in reviewing and publishing reports into High Speed 2 for the British Government and looks favourably upon such an undertaking. The operation of Regional Eurostar services will not be considered until such time as High Speed 2 has been completed. Alternatively, future loans of the North of London sets to other operators would enable the trains to operate at their full speed, unlike GNER's previous loan between 2000 and 2005, where the trains were limited to on regular track.


title: Eurostar

text: LGV Picardie is a proposed high-speed line between Paris and Calais via Amiens. By cutting off the corner of the LGV Nord at Lille, it would enable Eurostar trains to save 20 minutes on the journey between Paris and Calais, bringing the London–Paris journey time under 2 hours. In 2008 the French Government announced its future investment plans for new LGVs to be built up to 2020; LGV Picardie was not included but was listed as planned in the longer term.


title: Eurostar

text: The reduced journey times offered by the opening of High Speed 1 and the opening of the LGV Est and HSL-Zuid bring more continental destinations


title: Eurostar

text: within a range from London where rail is competitive with air travel. By Eurostar's estimates a train would then take 3 hours 30 minutes from London to Amsterdam.


title: Eurostar

text: At present Eurostar is concentrating on developing its connections with other services, but direct services to other destinations would be possible. With the new e320 rolling stock allowed Eurostar to enter the Netherlands and possibly Germany in future. In additional with every new country Eurostar enters there are security issues, due to the UK's not having signed up to the Schengen Agreement, which allows unrestricted movement across borders of member countries. For example, the Amsterdam to London route was previously direct in only one way, with people needing to get a train to Brussels to go through the juxtaposed controls; the direct connection was subject to talks between the UK and Dutch governments, and became completed in 2020 for services to start.


title: Eurostar

text: The difficulties that Eurostar faces in expanding its services would also be faced by any potential competitors to Eurostar. As the UK is outside the Schengen Agreement, London-bound trains must use platforms that are physically isolated, a constraint which other international operators such as Thalys do not face. In addition, the British authorities are required to make passenger security and passport checks before they board the train,


title: Eurostar

text: which might deter domestic passengers. Compounding the difficulties in providing a similar service are the Channel Tunnel safety rules, the major ones being the "half-train rule" and the "length rule". The "half-train rule" stipulated that passenger trains had to be able to split in the case of emergency. Class 373 trains were designed as two half-sets, which when coupled form a complete train, enabling them to be split easily in the event of an emergency while in the tunnel, with the unaffected set able to be driven out. The half-train rule was finally abolished in May 2010. However, the "length rule", which states that passenger trains must be at least 375 metres long with a through corridor (to match the distance between the safety doors in the tunnel), was retained, preventing any potential operators from applying to run services with existing fleets (the majority of both TGV and ICE trains are only 200m long).


title: Eurostar

text: At the same time as Pepy's announcement, Richard Brown announced that Eurostar's plans for expanding its network potentially included Amsterdam and Rotterdam as destinations, using the HSL Zuid line. This would require either equipment upgrades of the existing fleet, or a new fleet equipped for both ERTMS and the domestic signalling systems used by Nederlandse Spoorwegen. Following the December 2009 opening of HSL Zuid, a London–Amsterdam journey is estimated to take 4 hr 16 min.


title: Eurostar

text: In an interview with Eurostar's Chief Executive Nicolas Petrovic in the "Financial Times" in May 2012, an intention for Eurostar to serve ten new destinations was expressed, including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Cologne, Lyon, Marseille and Geneva, along with a likely second hub to be created in Brussels.


title: Eurostar

text: In March 2016 in an interview with Bloomberg, Eurostar's Chief Executive expressed interest in operating a direct train service between London and Bordeaux, but not before 2019. Journey time was said to be around four and a half hours using the new LGV Sud Europe Atlantique.


title: Eurostar

text: In December 2012 Eurostar announced that on Saturdays during May 2013–June 2013 a new seasonal service would be introduced to Aix-en-Provence, also serving Lyon-Part-Dieu and Avignon TGV on the way (the latter being from central Avignon). This was in addition to the seasonal service launched in 2002 which ran on Saturdays during July and August and the first week of September travelling to Avignon-Centre. The Aix-en-Provence services did not run in 2014 but was replaced along with the seasonal Avignon Centre services with the new year-round service to Lyon, Avignon and Marseille as of 1 May 2015.


title: Eurostar

text: The winter service ended in November 2017, meaning that - from 2018 - these services ran only from May to September, with connections during the rest of the year being offered via Eurostar, but requiring a change to SNCF trains in Paris or Lille. Travel time from London to Marseille was roughly 6.5 hours in 2018. These services have been suspended since 2019.


title: Eurostar

text: In September 2013, Eurostar announced an agreement with the Government of Netherlands and NS, the Dutch railway company, to start twice daily services between London and Amsterdam Centraal; the launch was initially planned for December 2016. With a journey time of around four hours, the service would use the newly bought Siemens Velaro trainsets and also call at Brussels, and Rotterdam.


title: Eurostar

text: Initially, trains stopped in Brussels for about half an hour to allow domestic passengers from Amsterdam and Rotterdam to leave and let London bound passengers to board. The Brussels-bound half of the train was then security-swept on arrival at Brussels before Brussels-to-London passengers could board.


title: Eurostar

text: The journey from London to Amsterdam Centraal was initially planned to take 3 hr 41 min with trains calling at Brussels-South and Rotterdam Centraal Station. From Amsterdam Centraal to London St Pancras International, trains took 4 hr 9 min to include the 28-minute stop at Brussels-South.


title: Eurostar

text: In November 2014, Eurostar announced the service to Amsterdam would start in "2016–2017", and would include a stop at Schiphol Airport in addition to the previously announced destinations. Eurostar indicated that the calling pattern was "not set in stone" and if a business case supported it the service might be extended to additional cities such as Utrecht.


title: Eurostar

text: The service was finally planned to start running on 4 April 2018, with fare prices starting at £35 for a single ticket. An "inaugural train" from London St Pancras International to Amsterdam via Rotterdam broke a speed record for the journey to Brussels (1hr 46mins) on 20 February 2018. The first regular service to Amsterdam left London St Pancras International at 08:31 on 4 April 2018.


title: Eurostar

text: The direct Amsterdam to London service launched on 26 October 2020 with two trains a day Monday–Friday. Until that date, a change in Brussels for passport controls and security added about an hour to journey time. Eurostar stated that the new journey time to London was 4 hr 9 min from Amsterdam, and 3 hr 29 min from Rotterdam.


title: Eurostar

text: In 2010, international rail travel was liberalised by new European Union directives, designed to break up monopolies in order to encourage competition for services between countries.


title: Eurostar

text: This sparked interest among other companies in providing services in competition to Eurostar and new services to destinations beyond Paris and Brussels. The only rail carrier to formally propose and secure permission for such a service up to now is Deutsche Bahn, which intends to run services between London and Germany and the Netherlands. The sale of High Speed One by the British Government having effectively nationalised LCR in June 2009 is also likely to stimulate competition on the line.