MORE TRAINS TO EUROPE – UPDATE ON PROGRESS SO FAR

In recent months there have been some promising announcements from several Train Operators. VIRGIN TRAINS now have confirmed access to the Stratford Depot, HS1 and London St Pancras.They plan to run up to 20 services per day from London to Paris, Brussels & Amsterdam. They plan to order 12 Avelia Stream trains from Alstom, though the order has yet to be confirmed. They hope to start services in 2030. See here for further information:https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/17/virgin-trains-services-to-europe-eurostar TRENITALIA do not have access to the Stratford Depot and do not yet have confirmed access to HS1 and London St.Pancras. They do however have a depot under construction in Paris which could be used to maintain any trains serving London via the channel tunnel.They have

2025 – A YEAR OF “ANNOUNCEMENTS”

During the past year we have enjoyed a series of announcements. It began with up to 5 possible competitors announcing their plans to compete against Eurostar from London. As there is limited room for servicing the trains at the depot in Stratford, the Regulator (Office for Road & Rail) then had to make a decision and invited all the competitors to make formal bids to use the depot. The Regulator then announced in October that Virgin had the most viable offer to run services to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam using trains they plan to order. Eurostar had also announced their own plans to order new trains and run more services in the future. During the course of the year, we

AFTER A LONG WAIT VIRGIN RETURNS TO RAIL >>THIS TIME DESTINATION EUROPE

More than 31 years after the first Eurostar left London for Paris, Eurostar may finally enjoy some competition from Virgin if and when they launch their new services to Paris & Brussels, hopefully in 2030. This is because the Office for Road & Rail (The Regulator) have ruled that Virgin must be allowed to share the Stratford train care depot with Eurostar. See here for the ORR Press Release: https://www.orr.gov.uk/search-news/rail-regulator-opens-door-future-international-train-services-temple-mills-access. Although Virgin have not been a train operator in the UK since 2019, they were able to make the best case to the Regulator. Virgin have raised suitable finance to order a fleet of “Avelia Stream” trains which can be maintained at the depot in Stratford. While this is a