A look inside Eurostar’s new high-speed train

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Eurostar chief executive Nicolas Petrovic has unveiled the operator’s new high-speed train, the e320.

Four years since the original order for 10 trains was placed with Siemens, Eurostar has finally revealed a completed e320 at London St Pancras to coincide with the Channel Tunnel operator’s 20th anniversary.

Yesterday’s launch was the first time Eurostar has shown off the e320’s interior, which has been designed by Pininfarina – an Italian design house famous for its partnership with Ferrari.

During the event, Petrovic announced that Eurostar plans to order an additional seven e320 units as it looks to expand its service offering for the next 20 years.

Manufactured in Krefeld, Germany, the e320 has a higher seating capacity and, at 320 km/h, is faster than the Class 373 vehicles. The main benefit of the ETCS-enabled e320 is that it meets European interoperability standards, allowing the operator to offer direct services to Germany and the Netherlands for the first time.

Nine of the 10 trains from the original order have been been built and this week night testing began in the UK on HS1. The first e320 is expected to go into commercial service from December 2015. All 10 16-car trains are scheduled to be delivered by March-April 2016.

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The post A look inside Eurostar’s new high-speed train appeared first on The Rail Engineer.

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