Uber agrees to 'co-brand' Channel Tunnel trains through Ebbsfleet
Transport app Uber will "co-brand" trains running through Kent and the Channel Tunnel, it has announced.The company said it had formed a partnership with Gemini Trains, which is developing plans to launch international rail services from London St Pancras which would stop in Ebbsfleet.Trains stopping in Ebbsfleet would see a return of international train travel to Kent for the first time since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.The deal, similar to that between Uber and the London Thames Clipper boats, would see tickets offered through the app but operations remaining the responsibility of Gemini.
Andrew Brem, Uber's UK general manager, said: "We've seen amazing momentum since we began launching new modes of transport in the UK, and this collaboration with Gemini Trains is our latest step in how we're helping people get where they want to go."Gemini is planning to buy 10 new trains for its services, one of several planned competitors to Eurostar.The company announced in March that it had been developing its plans for two years and had submitted an application to regulator the Office of Rail and Road for access to Eurostar's Temple Mills maintenance depot in north-east London.Other organisations developing proposals to launch rival services include billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Italy's state-owned railway company FS Italiane Group.Eurostar stopped calling at Ebbsfleet and Ashford in March 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.Despite local pressure for services to resume, the company has said it is focusing on its core routes.Gemini Trains chief executive Adrian Quine said it was "really exciting" to be teaming up with Uber.
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