Transport

Trains, Virgin ready to challenge Eurostar on the Channel route

Virgin Trains has been given the green light to operate competing services from 2030 and aims to offer the same connections as its rival, with trains from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam

by Nicol Degli Innocenti

31 October 2025

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

LONDON - The end of the monopoly for Eurostar, which has dominated unchallenged the channel tunnel route linking England to the European continent since 1994, is approaching. Virgin Trains has in fact been given the green light to operate competing services from 2030 and aims to offer the same connections as its rival, with trains from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

For Virgin Trains, however, this is the first step on a long road: the Office of Rail and Road (Orr), the British rail regulator, has approved the group's request to use the Temple Mills depot in Leyton, near London. Virgin has said it is ready to invest £700 million and create 400 new jobs.

"Orr's decision is right," said Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Trains. "It's time to end this 30-year monopoly and bring some of our magic to the Channel crossing, to give travellers a choice.

Temple Mills is the only train depot on the high-speed rail line that connects London to the Channel Tunnel, so it allows Virgin to be in pole position to compete with Eurostar. Before Virgin can take the plunge and start operating trains on the route, however, it will have to obtain further permission from the authorities.

"It will still be some time before the first Virgin trains can become operational, but we are ready to work with the group as it fine-tunes its plans," said Martin Jones, deputy director of Orr. "We have decided to give consumers a choice and open up to competition.

Orr gave the green light to Virgin but rejected applications from Trenitalia, the Spanish start-up Evolyn and a joint venture between Gemini Trains and Uber. Orr pointed out that Trenitalia was not chosen because it had only proposed to offer a connection between London and Paris, therefore 'with fewer benefits for passengers'.

Eurostar has been criticised for high prices and frequent train delays and many consider its monopoly position to be unsustainable, especially since the Channel Tunnel is only used at 50% of its capacity.

To cope with increased demand, Eurostar has recently announced that it will introduce double-decker trains capable of carrying more passengers. The EUR 2 billion order, awarded to Alstom, will enable Eurostar to offer routes as far as Geneva and Frankfurt.

Virgin Trains intends to do the same: Branson's group not only wants to offer an alternative to Eurostar on the London-Paris, London-Brussels and London-Amsterdam routes, but also to go further by operating trains that will touch other cities in France, Germany and Switzerland.

Virgin has operated the rail network from London's Euston station to Scotland via Birmingham and Manchester for 22 years, but the contract has not been renewed as of 2019.