Eurostar faces a delay in receiving new trains from German manufacturer Siemens.
The channel tunnel high speed passenger rail operator said that the first delivery of 10 Velaro trains was orginally due before the end of 2014 but that this had now slipped a few months.
“We are still expecting delivery of most of the trainsets during 2015,” the company told the Financial Times.
“It is fair to say there are still a number of technical issues but we are happy with the way the programme is progressing.”
Siemens is well advanced in building the carriages and is already putting six trains through testing.
The German engineering group won a €700 million contract in 2010 to supply Eurostar with the 10 high-speed trains, the first of which were due for delivery at the end of next year.
Roland Busch, head of Siemens’ infrastructure and cities division, reportedly told German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung: “I admit we underestimated the complexity of the contract.
“The European railway control systems are like an old rag rug that we manufacturers are expected to turn into a Persian carpet.”
Deutsche Bahn announced plans in 2010 to run the new Siemens trains between London and Frankfurt, challenging Eurostar’s cross-channel monopoly, but the plans were later delayed from 2013 to 2015.