Non-Stop Train from Germany to London

Sign Me Up.

Can't wait to see the fare on that run. It does sound great. RyanAir should lookout. No strange fees, no standing or no 1 pound for the loo. GermanWings should take notice also. Love it. I'm betting that these will be very popular trains.

There has always been a London-Spezial fare for €49 pP, one way.

The fare will probably be different since this will be a high speed NONSTOP, NO CHANGE train from select points in Germany to London.

Right now the London-Spezial requires a patch work of trains (EuroStar, Thalys, ICE), but is the same €49 from anywhere in Germany. I found it from Füssen and from Freilassing (across the river from Salzburg), all for that fare.

One key question was not addressed- where in Germany?

A few days ago, Deutsche Bahn held their semi-annual meeting. During the meeting they announced that this autumn they would be testing a newer design of their ICE3 trains through the Channel Tunnel. Current ICE3 trains do not meet the operating requirements for carrying passengers through the tunnel--they didn't go into specifics--but this newer design was developed specifically for it.

If testing proves positive, it could lead to future service from Germany to London.

While no mention of an exact route was made, back in March, DB made reference to a possible Frankfurt-London service to begin in December of 2012.

Any mention of Frankfurt to Brussels or Frankfurt to Liege?

No, this is strictly for trains going through the Channel Tunnel. That's why they developed the new train itself and got some of the rules changed for passenger trains going through the tunnel.

DB is also in talks with SNCF to start passenger service from Frankfurt to Lyon and Marseille beginning in 2012

It'd be interesting to know what journey time they're aiming for....4 hours?

There are already several 3 hour direct ICEs from Frankfurt Hbf to Brussels Midi. You can get €39 Europa-Spezial fares for that trip. I don't think Frankfurt-Liege would have enough traffic to warrant it's own, direct connection. Just catch another train to Liege in Brussels.