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A new Eurostar route could link the UK directly with Switzerland for the first time. Eurostar has signed a memorandum of understanding with Swiss rail operator SBB and French rail service SNCF Voyageurs to explore a potential direct connection between London and Switzerland. The agreement has been described as an important step in the long-term planning of a new route.

In a joint statement, the companies said: "The demand for international rail travel is high, and Eurostar, SBB and SNCF Voyageurs see significant potential for connecting London to Switzerland. This is because London is the number one flight destination from Switzerland, and at the same time, there is strong customer demand for a direct rail connection to the United Kingdom."

At present, passengers travelling between the UK and Switzerland must change trains.

Travellers can take the Eurostar to Paris and then transfer to a TGV Lyria service to reach Zurich, with the full journey taking just under seven and a half hours.

Under the proposed plans, direct services from London to Zurich could take around six hours, while journeys to Geneva could be around 30 minutes shorter.

Any rail connection between London and Switzerland would need to pass through France.

Eurostar said the signing of the memorandum marked "an important milestone in the long-term planning for the establishment of a potential new direct connection to the United Kingdom".

The companies will now analyse possible timetables and operational plans for the service.

However, several hurdles remain before the route can become a reality. Entry formalities, infrastructure changes and intergovernmental agreements would all need to be confirmed.

According to Eurostar, the project would be feasible "at the earliest sometime in the course of the 2030s".

Last year, it was also reported that Eurostar was planning to launch new direct services from London to both Germany and Switzerland.

Chief executive Gwendoline Cazenave said at the time that "a new golden age of international sustainable travel is here" as the operator outlined proposals to run trains between London St Pancras and Frankfurt and Geneva from the early 2030s.

She said the journey time could be around five hours between London and Frankfurt, and approximately five hours and 20 minutes between London and Geneva.

Eurostar said last year that it plans to introduce a fleet of 50 new trains costing around £1.7bn (€2bn) to serve the new routes, Sky News reported.

Ms Cazenave previously said she expected strong demand from both leisure and business travellers, particularly for connections to major financial hubs such as Frankfurt and Geneva.

Before any new service can launch, station capacity, border checkpoints and track access will all need to be addressed.

Ms Cazenave said that while the project would require "time, investments, expertise, a huge amount of energy and partnerships", she had "no doubt" the services would eventually go ahead.