Channel Tunnel: International Rail Strategy

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Monday 2nd June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend. I think I was there when the Deutsche Bahn train was at St Pancras in 2010; sadly, as my noble friend says, that did not materialise. There is currently a real opportunity for more passenger traffic to more destinations, and this Government are determined to seize it. For example, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State recently signed a memorandum of understanding with her Swiss counterpart to explore the setting up of a direct connection with Switzerland.

On the charging situation, the access charging framework for the Channel Tunnel provides for an incremental reduction in unit charges as traffic levels increase. Eurotunnel also operates a discount scheme for new routes; HS1 is currently consulting on a similar scheme. Those are important for new entrants. The recent review of the control period charges by the Office of Rail and Road reduced them by 10.4% for passenger trains and by 66% for freight trains. The volume of freight needs to increase; it would be good if it were greater than what the old train ferries coped with.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

My Lords, when the Channel Tunnel opened 31 years ago on 6 May, the forecast for freight traffic was between 8 million and 10 million tonnes. It peaked at 3 million tonnes then fell to 1 million tonnes. As the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, said in his Question, there is enormous scope for taking freight off our roads and putting it through the tunnel. What specific measures do the Government envisage taking to achieve this?

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is right that those statistics are disappointing. As she notes, the aspiration then was for far more than currently exists. In answer to the previous question, I said that real reductions in charges, particularly for freight on HS1 and the charging regimes for both the tunnel and HS1, will help to encourage freight traffic. I am spending a lot of my time speaking to potential Channel Tunnel users to demonstrate to them the Government’s enthusiasm for more freight through the tunnel.