Eurostar Is Adding Dozens of New Double-Decker Trains

While double-decker planes are no longer being manufactured, there are other ways to travel if you savor the experience of climbing up a flight of stairs before getting to your seat. Double-decker trains and buses are widespread, whether you’re looking to get around an urban space or travel from city to city. Beginning in six years, if you’re traveling across Europe by rail, the odds are greater than you’ll be doing so on a brand-new double-decker train.

That’s when Eurostar is set to begin rolling out its Celestia trains. This week, Eurostar announced an order of 30 double-decker trains from manufacturer Alstom Group; Eurostar also has an option to order an additional 20. The first of these are set to be delivered in early 2031 and will enter service in May of that year. According to the operator’s announcement, this new fleet will be based at London’s Temple Mills depot.

“Customers can expect a very special new train with Eurostar Celestia, which will offer exceptional comfort, a unique Eurostar experience and new surprises to be revealed,” said Eurostar CEO Gwendoline Cazenave in a statement. “This is a golden age for international sustainable travel — and Eurostar is leading the race.”

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Cazenave also emphasized that this is part of a larger strategy for Eurostar — namely, “to reach 30 million passengers by investing in a brand-new fleet.”

Once these trains are in service, where will they travel? Currently, Eurostar has a presence in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the U.K. Eurostar’s announcement mentions Frankfurt and Geneva as destinations that will be serviced by the new Celestia trains. They are also set to be the first double-decker trains to service the U.K.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…