Eurostar Fits First 1990s-Era e300 Trainset with ETCS Signalling

Eurostar has returned to commercial service the first of its e300 high-speed trainsets fitted with ETCS signalling, beginning a retrofit programme that will eventually cover all eight of the 1990s-built sets still running Channel Tunnel services.

The European Union Agency for Railways authorized the modified e300 (UK Class 373) trainset on July 6, 2026, and it entered passenger service on July 17. The ETCS/TVM dual-system equipment was developed by MerMec subsidiary CSEE, formerly part of Hitachi Rail and Ansaldo STS, and is being installed at SNCB's workshops in Namur, Belgium, with Eurostar keeping only one trainset out of service at a time to protect commercial capacity.

The upgrade is driven partly by a Belgian mandate requiring all trains on its network to carry ETCS by December 2027, replacing the older TBL1+ system, and partly by the need to keep the aging e300 fleet compliant while Eurostar awaits delivery of its new Celestia trainsets from 2031.

Once complete, the programme will extend ERTMS/ETCS across Eurostar's entire current fleet, a step the operator says is needed to keep the veteran trainsets running through the transition to next-generation rolling stock.