Deutsche Bahn has been granted the right to run London-bound trains through the Channel Tunnel in competition with Eurostar, following three years of study by the body responsible for safety in the subsea link. Approval has been given by the Anglo-French Intergovernmental Commission, Groupe Eurotunnel, which runs the 48km (30-mile) shaft. 
Deutsche Bahn plans to commence services in 2016 and could add as up to four million passengers on German and Dutch routes to the 10 million who already use Eurostar’s express services, according to Eurotunnel.
Internet on ICE Trains
Meanwhile, Deutsche Bahn and Deutsche Telekom have made large-scale expansion of Internet reception in ICE trains. The service is now available on five additional lines that are all marked with the HotSpot logo: Hamburg–Berlin, Frankfurt (Main)–Nürnberg–Munich, Dortmund–Hannover–Berlin, Göttingen– Wolfsburg and Fulda–Würzburg.
This doubles lines with Internet reception to 3,000km. Currently 90 ICE trains are equipped with the necessary reception technology and by the end of the year this number will increase to 180 of around 255 ICE trains.
