London to Frankfurt by train for as little as £49 - train giant to spark price war with new high-speed route

By Ray Massey, Transport Editor

Bullet across the Channel: The 200mph 'Bullet Train' planned for a new express service between Britain and Germany


Bullet train set to arrive at St Pancras next month in trial run

One way fares could be as little as £49


Western Europe's network of cities got one step closer for UK tourists yesterday with the announcement of plans by Deutsche Bahn (DB) for new services between London and the German city of Frankfurt.

A DB bullet train is set to arrive in St Pancras next month in a trial run for a new route which would speed passengers between the two cities at 200mph.

The new route will put train travel on an equal footing with airlines for passengers while also providing a rival to the highly successful Eurostar for services to the Continent - potentially sparking a price war.

The company is to bring one of its latest German 'bullet trains' through the Channel Tunnel and into the capital's St Pancras International terminal on October 19 to showcase its plans for a high-speed link between the two financial centres from December 2013.

The aim is to cut the train travelling time from Central London to Frankfurt, nicknamed 'Bankfurt' in Germany because it is the nation's major financial centre, from around six hours to between four and five hours.

A direct non-stop route is achievable in 3 hours 55 minutes. This will compete with approximately 4 and a half hours needed to fly there, once travel to the airport, check-in time and the 1 hour 30 minute flight time are counted together.

The extra competition could also mean lower fares. Experts say a one-way trip could cost between £39 and £49. The German company is also considering stops in Cologne, Brussels and Lille.

The centre-to-centre travel will also mean business travellers and tourists can relax for longer in their seats or work via wi-fi rather than enduring the hassle of airline check-in, security and trips to and from the airport.


The planned Frankfurt=London route: Using the 200mph 'bullet trains' should improve air travel times between the two financial centres by about half an hour


However, the high speed German-built Inter City Express (ICE) trains will first have to pass stringent safety tests to be allowed to travel through the Channel Tunnel.
Deutsche Bahn chief executive Ruediger Grube is understood to be arriving in London on the dry-run trip, marking the significance of the event.

The news comes as UK Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond this week visits areas in the Chilterns and the Midlands affected by a controversial high-speed rail plan linking London to the North - which would then feed into the Continental high-speed rail network. The Tories back the link to the North, but are critical of the route set out by Labour.

Rail analyst Chris Meek said the German bullet-train would increase traffic between London and the Continent: 'And the main source of the traffic will be diversion from air.'

Eurostar launched in 1994 and now carries 9 million passengers a year between London, Paris and Brussels.

source: dailymail