After a meeting on 17 December 1999, freshly installed DB CEO Hartmut Mehdorn and SNCF CEO Louis Gallois called on the European rail industry to create a joint high-speed train platform, to realise economies of scale.
THSRC's bid was based on the high-speed technology platform of Eurotrain, a joint venture of GEC-Alsthom, the main maker of the French TGV, and Siemens, the main maker of the German ICE.