eurostar's 20th anniversary celebrated with pininfarina e320 train

eurostar’s 20th anniversary celebrated with pininfarina e320 train
images courtesy of pininfarina

to mark eurostar’s 20th anniversary, the unveiling of the state-of-the-art pininfarina e320 train – which will enter commercial service in 2015 – took place at london’s st pancras international station. the announcement confirms that a further seven models will be manufactured and added to create a fleet of 17 in total. the convoy formed by the famous italian car design house, expands capacity by 20% to 900 passengers, boosts its speed to 200mph and delivers an enhanced experience for all travelers. with the free wifi and portals that display a range of information and entertainment such as live news feeds and weather reports, the customers can email, chat and access social media throughout their journeys. inside the carriages more room per seat, power points and USB sockets are provided, and in the business class environment, a relaxing space maximizing productivity is offered.

pininfarina has an extensive knowledge in the rail industry, having designed the interiors and exteriors of italian, spanish, swiss, danish and norwegian railways. however, the new ‘e320’ train’s specifications needed them to be ‘inter-operable’ to operate across diverse european signalling systems in order to explore the vision of future railway travel. it meets the requirements set to deliver direct services to lyon, marseille, amsterdam and antwerp by may 2016 and the end of 2016 respectively. the eurostar ‘e320’ with external livery and interiors designed by pininfarina, heralds the next generation of the train company’s services in terms of traveling performance and journey experience.

external livery and interiors designed by pininfarina

nicolas petrovic, chief executive of eurostar, said: ‘having had ten consecutive years of growth, we are seeing a record demand for our services and the addition of new trains to our fleet will be key to our growth ambitions. with just one year to go until our new e320 train comes into service, our passengers will soon see a complete transformation of our service. the combination of bold design, chic interiors and wifi connectivity will raise the bar, providing an unprecedented level of style and comfort for our customers.’

he continued to say: ‘over the last twenty years, we have led the way in cross-channel high speed rail travel, cementing the link between the UK and mainland europe. our 20th birthday represents a key milestone for our business and marks the start of the next phase of growth and expansion. with this substantial investment in our fleet, our stations and the on-board experience, passengers can look forward to an exciting future.’