Asturias family Cosmen Menéndez-Castañedo leads new railway company EvolynIt will be operational in 2025 with tHigh-speed train services between Paris and London via the Channel Tunnelunder english channelThus, the monopoly exercised for thirty years by the Eurostar consortium, consisting of French and Belgian state train companies and the Canadian pension fund and carrying 14 million passengers a year, was broken.
Evolyn purchased twelve high-speed trains of the Avelia series from the French manufacturer Almston. The order can be expanded with four more convoysAs the railway company announced yesterday. The planned investment amounts to £1,000 million (1,159 million euros at yesterday’s exchange rate).
“The governments of the UK and France welcome a project that will increase connectivity options between the UK and various countries in continental Europe and a green alternative that will contribute to decarbonisation,” said a man from Oviedo. Jorge CosmenCEO of Evolyn.
With the Cosmens having a “relevant position” in the capital, Evolyn, whose identity has not been disclosed for now, is joined by a number of “British and French industrial and financial partners.”. The project was supported three years ago by the Asturian dynasty with a team of experienced professionals, mostly Spanish.
Cosmen family too Largest shareholder of British group Mobico (formerly National Express), owner of Alsa and other bus and bus companies operating trains in Germany. Alsa also manages railway training centers as well as tourist trains and other services in Spain.
Was under the current name Mobico National ExpressOne of the UK’s largest rail operators gave up all British operations on this mode of transport in 2017, although it maintained a presence with trains in the German market.
The Cosmen family, meanwhile, maintains growing interest in rail and hopes that Alsa will at some point operate at high speed in Spain.
At the beginning of the Evolyn project, the possibility of Mobico participating was considered. Finally, Mobico chose to focus on short-term restructuring projectsAccording to informed media, Cosmen took over the leadership of a project that, according to its supporters, was designed for “growth and long-term”.