Virgin Trains cleared for up to 20 Channel Tunnel return trips a day

Virgin’s Channel Tunnel bid gets the green light

The Office of Rail and Road, which confirmed the decision on Monday, has approved services between London and Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam under an agreement running from 1 October 2030 to 31 December 2040. It applies only to the HS1 route between London St Pancras and the tunnel entrance in Folkestone, Kent.

There is still a long way to go

Plenty must still fall into place. Virgin has to order rolling stock, with 12 high-speed trains earmarked from Alstom, win safety approval from UK and EU authorities, secure access to European networks and get sign-off from Getlink to use the tunnel. Italy’s FS Italiane Group is chasing the same route from 2029 through Trenitalia France, which last week ordered 19 high-speed trains from Hitachi Rail.

"This is an important next step in bringing competition and growth to the market for international rail services. While there is still more work to do, we are supporting Virgin and the wider industry to grow international services."

Martin Jones, ORR deputy director of access and international

A Virgin Group spokesperson said its plans for a London–Europe service from 2030 were “moving at pace”. Branson has previously said it was “time to end this 30-year monopoly” on a route Eurostar has had to itself since 1994.

Whether competition means cheaper fares or simply more seats will not be clear for years — and on this timetable Virgin may not even be first through, with Trenitalia targeting 2029. Nearer term, the industry is weighing plans to have train passengers tracked by GPS to stop ticket fraud.