Assetz® News » HOME | RSS Feed FEED | LIST ALL ARTICLES | ASSETZ HOMEPAGE
Investment Property News from Assetz

Assetz® Property News Service

Training up for investment

24th October 2008 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

Since it opened in 1994 the Channel Tunnel has opened up a whole new way of getting between Britain and France at great speed. Since then the service has expanded, the number of connections have risen and last year saw faster trains introduced with Waterloo replaced by St Pancras as the international terminal at the London end.

This has, of course, created new opportunities for those investing in property in France, partly as a swift way of getting to their own second homes, or of getting home if they have emigrated. Quicker trains even mean that some can live in the north of France and commute to south-east England and London for work. To all this can be added the boost to tourist buy-to-let potential that having such links for travellers can provide.

One thing that has not changed is the monopoly that Eurostar has had on using the tunnel, but under EU law that will soon change. One service proposal that has arisen this week came jointly from the South East England Development Agency (Seeda) and its French equivalent the Prefecture of the Nord Pas de Calais, reported the Daily Telegraph.

Under the plan, which has been submitted to the European commission, the service - known as the Transmanche Metro - will run a facility deliberately designed as a regular commuter utility for those who live in northern France but work in Britain. Indeed, it will even offer season tickets, unlike Eurostar.

Explaining the plan to the paper, a Seeda spokesman said: "We want people travelling to work by train. The Transmanche Metro will allow this. This is equally the case for British people living in the Cote d'Opale and for French people wanting to consider jobs in our region where we have a skills and labour shortage."

With one-hour journeys from Calais to London, it could indeed be the case that northern France will see a major boost to its property market as the potential to become a de facto home county is realised, particularly around the scheduled stops of Calais, Cote d'Opale and Lille.

Of course, the new service - should it be approved - will not offer the ideal solution to all who would use the tunnel as a way of developing their French property interests. While it is true that the Cote d'Opale is not currently on its list of stops, those using the Eurostar can go further than Lille, particularly to Paris and from there on to northern French destinations like Caen and Rouen in Normandy, as well as Reims. But the fact that new competition is coming and new rail destinations may open up means that those keen on investing in northern France could see new hotspots emerging when services other than the Eurostar begin running under the sea.

This is a press release by Assetz also available at http://press.assetz.co.uk/articles/4447.html. Alternatively, please see our full press release archive.

Assetz® is a UK and International Property Investment Specialist. Please visit our property sites shown below.

Assetz for Investors UK Assetz Hotels Assetz Homes Assetz International Assetz France Assetz Spain Assetz Cyprus Assetz Germany Assetz Portugal Assetz Ski Assetz Cape Verde Assetz USA Assetz Finance Assetz Fund Management

Accessing the news service

You can view all of the Assetz® UK, International and UK Property Investment Articles and News here.

We also provide an RSS Feed Feed of the news service, or you can view all articles. Click here to view more information on RSS readers and how they make reading online news more convenient.

eXTReMe Tracker