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Virgin Trains gets UK track access to run cross-Channel services from 2030

The Office of Rail and Road approved up to 20 daily return trips from 1 October 2030 through 31 December 2040, using the HS1 line.

Reported · Written up by our desk · North America

Virgin Trains said the UK rail regulator has granted it track access to run cross-Channel passenger services between London and Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam starting in 2030, a regulatory step aimed at challenging Eurostar’s monopoly on the route. The Office of Rail and Road approved up to as many as 20 daily return services using the High Speed 1 line from London St Pancras to the Channel tunnel, the Guardian Business reported.

The access agreement covers the period from 1 October 2030 to 31 December 2040, but it is limited to the HS1 corridor. Virgin Trains still needs to secure access to the tunnel and rail networks on the European mainland before it can operate fully.

The rail operator said it previously received approval to share Eurostar’s Temple Mills depot in east London to maintain and store trains, the only depot reachable from HS1. Eurostar has held a passenger-service monopoly through the tunnel since it opened in 1994.

The Guardian Business noted Eurostar was formerly partially owned by the UK taxpayer but is now controlled by SNCF, while Eurotunnel operates LeShuttle for vehicle transport on the cross-Channel route.

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