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Railhub Archive 1996-06-01 DoT-001 Department of Transport0
Sir George Young welcomes formal handover of Eurostar to London and Continental Railways
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 CTRL
 Channel Tunnel Rail Link
 privatisation
 Union Railways
 
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       Sir George Young welcomes formal handover of Eurostar to London and Continental Railways _______________________________________________________________

 related documents
type Press release note 162
London and Continental Railways (LCR) formally took ownership of European Passenger Services, the UK operators of the Eurostar services between London and the Continent at midnight last night. LCR marked the move by confirming that finance is now all in place for the next phase of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project. They have also taken over Union Railways. Commenting on this important day for CTRL and Eurostar, Sir George Young, Secretary of State for Transport, said: This is a significant moment in the development of international rail travel in the UK. The privatisation of European Passenger Services is critically important to the future success of the business. I expect the private sector expertise of London and Continental Railways, together with the expertise gained from consortia members with a proven track record in transport, to make a big difference to Eurostar in the future. London and Continental have raised the large amount of private funding needed for the development phase of the high speed link. It is a clear demonstration of the widespread enthusiasm for and confidence in the project. Following the appointment of LCR at the end of February, a great deal of work has been done to prepare for the transfer of European Passenger Services and Union Railways, who have conceived and managed the project so far, to the private sector. LCR will now begin the development phase of the CTRL leading up to construction, working within the parameters set by the Hybrid Bill which recently completed its consideration by the House of Commons. The next stage is consideration by a Select Committee of the House of Lords. Construction will begin after the CTRL Bill is enacted and once main financing has been achieved - currently anticipated to be in late 1997. Notes to Editors 1.London and Continental Railways (LCR) were appointed as the promoter of the CTRL project in February 1996 and signed a Development Agreement with the Government. LCR will finance, design , build, maintain and operate international services on the new 68 mile high speed line between St Pancras and the Channel Tunnel. PN 64 refers. 2.The Development Agreement could not come into effect until certain conditions had been met, most notably that the European Commission had confirmed that the Governments support for the project and for Union Railways (URL) and European Passenger Services (EPS) did not constitute state aid. The commission gave the necessary clearance on 30 April. 3.All the conditions have now been met and the Agreement became fully effective yesterday. Ownership of UR and EPS has been transferred to LCR together with the leasehold of certain land and property. 4.LCR now own EPS outright and have taken over the operation of the UK arm of the Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel. LCR recently announced a package of marketing initiatives designed to build up the EPS business and to increase passenger numbers. 5.At the same time LCR have secured funding for the development phase of the project leading up to the start of construction. This comprises nearly #100m of equity invested by LCRs shareholders plus substantial debt facilities provided by a group of commercial banks and by the European Investment Bank. The development phase is expected to last about 18 months. # = pounds sterling
Railhub Archive ::: 1996-06-01 DoT-001
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