Billionaire businessman Richard Branson has moved a step closer to challenging Eurostar after his company won regulatory approval to run passenger trains on tracks to the Channel Tunnel.
The Office of Rail and Road granted Virgin permission to run up to 20 trains a day between St Pancras International in London and the tunnel entrance at Folkestone in Kent.
The agreement covers the United Kingdom track from October 2030 until the end of 2040. A Virgin spokesman said the plans were "moving at pace" and the company was on track to meet its launch date.
Eurostar has held a monopoly on passenger routes through the Channel Tunnel since the underground link between Britain and France opened in 1994. Branson previously stated it was "time to end this 30-year monopoly and bring some Virgin magic to the cross-Channel route".
European track access
Virgin still needs to win approval to use the tunnel itself, along with the tracks on the European side of the border. The company plans to run services from London to the same stations in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam that Eurostar currently uses.
Virgin Trains must secure access to those other rail networks and obtain safety approvals from both the Office of Rail and Road and relevant regulators in the European Union before it can begin running services in 2030.
The regulatory decision clears another key hurdle for the proposed international services. In October, Virgin was granted access to share the Temple Mills depot in east London so it can maintain and store its trains.
The facility is the only depot accessible from High Speed 1, the rail line connecting London and the tunnel.
Competition and growth
Martin Jones, the deputy director of access and international at the Office of Rail and Road, described the track access agreement as an important next step.
"This is an important next step in bringing competition and growth to the market for international rail services, and we welcome the progress Virgin Trains and London St Pancras High Speed have made," Jones said.
"While there is still more work to do, we are supporting Virgin and the wider industry to grow international services."
A spokesman for Virgin said the company welcomed the initial track access agreement from the rail regulator.
"We welcome the ORR's pre-approval of our track access agreement and the opportunity to bring competition and Virgin's award-winning customer experience to the Channel Tunnel," the spokesman said.
