A new Eurostar agreement could mean that direct trains run from London to Switzerland for the first time.
Eurostar, SBB and SNCF Voyageurs have signed a “memorandum of understanding” to establish the potential direct connection between the two destinations.
In March, Swiss rail company SBB and French rail service SNCF Voyageurs reached an agreement with the aim of developing new rail routes.
Eurostar said: “This marks an important milestone in the long-term planning for the establishment of a potential new direct connection to the United Kingdom.”
It added that London is the No 1 flight destination from Switzerland, with “strong customer demand for a direct rail connection”.
The rail connection between London and Switzerland would “necessarily” run through France.
Journeys from London to Zurich would typically take around six hours, while connections to Geneva would be half an hour shorter.
Train travellers between the UK and Switzerland can currently take the Eurostar to Paris then switch to a TGV Lyria train to Zurich, a total journey of just under seven and a half hours.
Eurostar has been operating cross-Channel connections for more than 30 years.
Entry formalities, necessary infrastructure changes and intergovernmental agreements will need to be confirmed before the project moves forward.
According to Eurostar, the project would be feasible “at the earliest sometime in the course of the 2030s”.
Elsewhere, Prague and Copenhagen were connected by rail for the first time in more than 10 years when a new service launched between the two capitals.
The Prague-Copenhagen link started on 1 May, run by Czech Railways.
Due to track closures in Germany, the service has started by running only two trains per day that are temporarily following a detour between Berlin and Hamburg, making the journey slightly longer.
For the next few weeks, the service will leave Prague Main Station at 6.31am, arriving in Copenhagen at 7.38pm.
A service will also run from the Danish capital at 8.22am, arriving in Prague at 9.25pm.
Read more: West Coast Main Line fares to fall when Lumo’s new London trains start this month
