Eurostar's cross channel route to face competition

The Guardian reports that cross-channel rail passengers will soon be able to travel on a competitor to Eurostar after the government promised to open up the High Speed One line to a new operator.
The arrival of Deutsche Bahn, the German national rail company, on the Eurostar route "could lead to regular services between London and major German cities such as Cologne". According to the article, Air France has also expressed interest in running rival services from London St Pancras, with Holland's NedRailways also tipped "to enter the bidding".

Competitors to Eurostar may soon runs trains out of St Pancras International Photo: Richard Hammond.
All cross-border rail services must be opened up to competition from January 2010.
For the full article by Dan Milmo, the Guardian's transport correspondent, see Guardian Unlimited.
See also a previous article in November 2007 on Timesonline: German plan to run trains through Channel Tunnel.
See also: GreenTraveller previews Eurostar service to St Pancras.