Virgin Trains has taken another major step towards launching cross-Channel rail services after the Office of Rail and Road pre-approved its track access agreement with London St Pancras Highspeed. The operator plans up to 20 daily return services from London, with Virgin confirming to RailwayPRO that 13 would serve Paris, four Brussels and three Amsterdam.
The UK’s Office of Rail and Road (ORR) decided on 13 August to pre-approve a new framework track access agreement between London St Pancras Highspeed, the operator of HS1, and VTE OPCO Limited, trading as Virgin Trains.
The agreement would allow Virgin to operate up to 20 daily return services between London and Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam from 1 October 2030 until 31 December 2040. Virgin and London St Pancras Highspeed can now enter into the agreement by 4 September 2026.
Virgin has now provided further details to RailwayPRO confirming that its full planned timetable would comprise 13 daily return services between London and Paris, four to Brussels and three to Amsterdam.
The company welcomed the latest regulatory decision.
“Our plans for a new London-Europe rail service from 2030 are moving at pace. 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,” a Virgin Group spokesperson told RailwayPRO.
Alstom train order is the next major milestone
Despite the latest approval, a number of significant steps remain before Virgin can begin carrying passengers.
The operator still needs rolling stock, access through the Channel Tunnel and to the relevant rail networks on the continent, as well as safety approvals and vehicle authorisations in the UK and European Union. ORR had already identified these requirements when it approved Virgin’s access to Temple Mills International depot in October 2025.
Virgin told RailwayPRO that finalising its rolling stock order with Alstom will be the next major milestone, followed by securing access through the Channel Tunnel.
Discussions with Alstom are now at an “advanced stage”, although Virgin has not given a date for the signing of a firm contract.
The group announced in 2025 that it was working with Alstom on a fleet of 12 Avelia Stream high-speed trains. Virgin itself described the arrangement at the time as preparation to “soon place an order”, meaning the trains have not yet been covered by a final purchase contract.
The partnership would revive an established relationship between the two companies. Alstom built the Class 390 Pendolino fleet used by the former Virgin Trains operation on Britain’s West Coast Main Line before that franchise ended in 2019.
Continental access talks also at an advanced stage
Virgin is simultaneously working on the European side of the future operation.
Asked by RailwayPRO about access to the French, Belgian and Dutch networks, as well as the necessary cross-border approvals, the company said discussions are also at an “advanced stage”.
ORR nevertheless stressed that its latest decision is only one part of a much wider regulatory and commercial process. Access to HS1 does not in itself authorise Virgin to operate through the Channel Tunnel or on infrastructure in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
“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,” said Martin Jones, ORR Deputy Director for Access and International.
“While there is still more work to do, we are supporting Virgin and the wider industry to grow international services.”
Temple Mills gave Virgin an important advantage
The new HS1 decision follows another significant regulatory victory for Virgin.
In October 2025, ORR approved the company’s application for access to Temple Mills International depot in east London, while rejecting competing applications from Evolyn, Gemini and Trenitalia.
The regulator concluded that Virgin had the strongest prospects of making efficient use of the limited capacity available at the depot, pointing to the financial and operational strength of its proposal, investor backing and its agreement in principle for rolling stock.
The decision unlocked plans involving around GBP 700 million in private investment and up to 400 jobs, according to ORR.
Temple Mills has become one of the key bottlenecks in the race to introduce new passenger operators through the Channel Tunnel. ORR previously concluded that the depot had sufficient additional capacity for one new operator or further Eurostar expansion, but not for all the competing plans.
Trenitalia remains in the race
The rejection of Trenitalia’s Temple Mills application does not, however, mean the Italian operator has abandoned its London ambitions.
In March 2026, Trenitalia France signed a 35-year lease with SNCF Réseau for a railway site at Maisons-Alfort Pompadour, in the Paris region, where it plans to build its own high-speed train maintenance facility.
The project represents an investment of more than EUR 80 million, is expected to become operational by the end of 2029 and will eventually be able to accommodate up to 25 trains. FS Italiane explicitly said the facility will support future Frecciarossa services between Paris and London through the Channel Tunnel.
Virgin is therefore currently further ahead in securing access to critical infrastructure on the British side, while Trenitalia is developing a separate operational base in France for its own planned cross-Channel operation.
Eurostar preparing a EUR 2 billion fleet expansion
Competition will also arrive as incumbent Eurostar carries out one of the largest fleet investments in its history.
Eurostar has placed a firm order with Alstom for 30 new double-deck Celestia trains, based on the Avelia Horizon platform, with options for another 20 units. The programme is valued at around EUR 2 billion and is intended to support both capacity growth and new routes, including London-Frankfurt and London-Geneva.
The operator carried 20 million passengers in 2025 and is targeting further growth towards 30 million annual passengers. The first Celestia trains are currently expected to enter service from 2031.
Virgin is therefore preparing to enter a market that could look very different by the beginning of the next decade: Eurostar expanding with a new fleet, Trenitalia developing its own Paris-London operation, and Virgin attempting to establish services to three major continental destinations.
For Virgin, however, the immediate priority is now clear. The Alstom train order must be finalised, followed by Channel Tunnel access and the remaining cross-border approvals.
If those milestones are completed on schedule, the company aims to begin international operations in 2030, bringing the first direct competition in decades to Eurostar’s cross-Channel passenger business.
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