A Eurostar rival could soon offer rail passengers train tickets from the UK to France for a fraction of the price.
Getlink, a French rail operator, has announced new proposals to offer a similar route between the two capitals cities.
Starting from Stratford, the route would then terminate at Roissy station which is close to Charles de Gaulle Airport.
It would be a slightly longer route of three hours, compared to Eurostar’s two hours and 15-minute-long trip.
However, tickets could be 30 per cent less than current ticket prices.
Eurostar ticket prices start from as little as £29 each way, but are often much more expensive than this when travelling peak time and can exceed £100 each way.
Jacques Gounon, the chairman of Getlink, explained to the Telegraph: “Rail transport is about to be transformed in the same way as air travel was between 2003 and 2005, with the appearance of budget airlines in Europe.
“The rail market is ready for budget and premium services to coexist.”
Mr Gounon is referring to the budget airline market which has seen the uprising of cheap fares with low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet.
Plane tickets to Europe can be bought for as little as £4.99 each way, much cheaper than any train journey abroad.
The cheap train tickets with Getlink would be available by using older tracks that would be slower but have “lower toll charges”.
Mr Gounon also explained why the different locations in London and Paris were chosen.
Stratford already has “good public transport links” to the rest of London, thanks to the Olympic Games in 2012.
While the train wouldn’t go into the centre of Paris, plans for an express railway line between the main airport and the central station are currently in the works.
The Channel tunnel rail line currently only runs at 58 per cent capacity, leaving more room for passenger expansion.
Eurostar recently launched a new route from London to Amsterdam earlier this year.
The route currently has two routes a day, at 8:31am and 5:31pm, taking three hours and 41 minutes from London St Pancras to the centre of Amsterdam.
On the return journey, however, the trip is slightly longer as the train stops at Brussels for passport checks.
It is hoped this temporary measure will be solved the following year.
Tickets currently start from £35 each way, great news for the four million passengers who currently fly between London and the Netherlands.
