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There is sometime a misunderstanding over the nature of EU direcrtives; they are quite broad and up to each member state to incorporate into thier own law how they wish. The open access directive is basically an accounting mechanism - at the bottom level there just has to be transparency between the track operation and the movement of trains thereon. It was the then Tory government who decided to foist this utter shambles in the name of "privitisation" by pursuing an ideologically driven structure upon the railway industry. I have no beef about working for a private company; it was just the way that it was "privatised" which drives me crackers..... To answer a few points - Eurostar drivers are trained in all three languages - French being the driver. Anybody who works Ashford IECC must be able to speak French. This is due to classic line diversions and the plethora of signalboxes thereon. 2) In theory there is nothing to stop French drivers working trains thru the tunnel to London if they are passed competent in Brit rules. The way of operating is different in all countries - the EU is trying to work something on this - however it is already done with Eurostar so why not freight? 3) With the demise of railtrack all the infrastructure operators are basically in the hands of the state within the EU. The Brit government may try and persuade us that NR is private however it is not. It is funded by debt which is backed by the government. The private bit is to keep the Company off the National Balance Sheet so the Scots bloke in number 11 can keep smiling. 4) It will be immensely difficult for French crews to work direct from the tunnel direct to Manchester or the north; unless they are on very fast trains. Working hours agreements limits the amount of hours and driving time within a turn. HOWEVER (and this is semantic I know) there is nothing to stop a French company using French drivers under open access running trains from the tunnel to Manchester. Only they would have to be passed in British Rules and you would probabley require at least two/ three sets per trip. 5) Somebody in the French (and EU) parliament moaned that calling Waterloo...Waterloo was anti european and tried to campaign to get the name changed. However one of the French stations is Austerlitz after one of Boneys battles. They can change that one first......! And if anybody states - "leave it entirely to the market" - errr.....no. That policy will not work in whatever sector you work in,
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