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 start, Virgin will have their work cut out for the next 4+ years if the service is to start as planned in 2030. Hopefully, we can finally look forward to lower fares on the London to Paris & Brussels route with proper “through-ticketing” between major UK stations and all major stations in Europe. We now have to wait and see if any of their 3 rivals (Gemini Trains, Evolyn & Trenitalia France) have any further plans. From the UK side, we hope that one of them might have a viable plan to start a service using Stratford, Ebbsfleet and Ashford International stations.

We can recommend a very interesting discussion about this decision and what this might entail for the future. Have a look at this Green Signals video on Youtube at : Virgin Trains is BACK! And ready to take on Eurostar…

For further details see here a recent article in The Guardian >> https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/26/uk-government-backs-return-of-international-rail-travel-to-kent-stations?utm_term=68d61345380b57f0124f3767119ca142&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email

MEANWHILE, THERE WILL BE FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS IN DECEMBER WITH TRAIN SERVICES ON THE EUROPEAN MAINLAND >>>

From the December timetable change, there will be more Eurocity services between Berlin, Poznan and Warsw and a new direct service from Leipzig to Wroclaw, Krakow and Premsyl in southern Poland.

In Austria, the new “Koralbahn” tunnel will open in December, reducing journey times between Vienna and Klagenfurt in Southern Austria by about 45 minutes. This will also reduce the daytime journey between Vienna and Venice – which are two very popular destinations.

AND EASIER THROUGH TICKETING >>>

After a break of a few years, you can now again book through tickets from London with Deutsche Bahn to destinations in Germany and beyond.

RUNWAYS TO RAILWAYS : UNLOCKING THE GROWTH POTENTIAL OF THE CHANNEL TUNNEL

Monday 31st March – 6pm to 8pm in London – The Campaign for Better Transport will be holding a panel discussion about how the UK can make better use of International Rail. See below to register for this free event.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/runways-to-railways-unlocking-the-growth-potential-of-the-channel-tunnel-tickets-1262329444349?aff=oddtdtcreator

RESTORING INTERNATIONAL SERVICES FROM ASHFORD & EBBSFLEET

A group of Kent & Sussex MPs have met with Eurostar urging them to carry out a proper assessment of consumer demand for train services serving these 2 stations in Kent. They also met with Virgin & the Rail Minister who confirmed they were both keen to see international services restored to the 2 Kent stations.

ORR – “THE REGULATOR” IS HELPING TO REMOVING ANOTHER BARRIER PREVENTING VIRGIN & EVOLYN STARTING NEW SERVICES FROM LONDON

Last year Virgin & Evolyn made a formal Section 17 depot access application to the ORR (The Office of Rail & Road) for permission to use the International Depot at Stratford for train-preparation & servicing. Eurostar then claimed that there was no space for another operator and also claimed that ORR have no power to make such a decision. The ORR have now ruled that they have the legal authority to make this decision and have appointed an independent expert to investigate & report. They then hope to make a decision later this year. We predict that they will rule that there is enough space, but, for only one new operator.

MORE EUROPEAN DESTINATIONS BECOMES GOVERNMENT POLICY

Lord Hendy – the Rail Minister stated in Parliament on 25th February “The Dft is working as hard as it can to increase the number of European destinations accessible through Eurotunnel”

AND NOW THE SWISS WANT TO COME TO LONDON

Now that the owners of HS1 and Getlink (who own the channel tunnel) are working together to develop more passenger services to/from Europe, our Department of Transport officials have been discussing with Swiss Federal Railways the feasibility of direct services between London and Switzerland. Direct high-speed trains from London to Geneva or Basel could offer journey times of just under 6 hours. See here for more details from Swiss Info: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/could-a-direct-high-speed-train-link-between-switzerland-and-london-soon-be-a-reality/49071586

https://www.railmagazine.com/news/2024/05/21/eurostar-to-expand-fleet-after-strong-financial-results?utm_campaign=RAIL_weekly_newsletter_22_05_24&utm_content=RAIL%20-%20Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_term=Eurostar%20to%20expand%20fleet%20after%20strong%20financial%20results&utm_medium=email&utm_source=adestra

At the very least they should now offer a free or reduced add-on fare from Kent stations to/from London St Pancras International.

While St Pancras is already very overcrowded, will we have to wait until one of their competitors launches a service from the empty platforms at Ashford, Ebbsfleet or Stratford? See here for some recent reporting in the Kent Mail:

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/ashford/news/threat-from-rivals-boost-chances-of-eurostar-bringing-back-307899/

AND ALSO – IF YOU LIVE IN KENT >>>

In case you missed it back in March there was a very informative webinar run by Bring Back Euro Trains at https://bringbackeurotrains.com/, discussing the campaign to re-instate Eurostar services at Ashford and Ebbsfleet. You can watch the full webinar at: BBET Anniversary Petition Webinar 2024 (youtube.com)

AND FINALLY >>>

You may want to have a look at this new site with an interactive map for some ideas when planning future trips around Europe at: https://trip-hop.info./

In the meantime, the choice of cross channel ferry services from Dover to Calais for foot passengers is substantially reduced. DFDS no longer take foot passengers on any of their services and P & O have limited foot passengers to only 3 services a day. To make it even more unattractive P & O insist you to book in advance and check-in 90 minutes before departure. Just to make matters worse you then have to wait 30 minutes at the destination (presumably while all the cars & lorries go first), before they will let you disembark from the ship !

Before we had the Channel Tunnel and were not facing such a climate emergency, it was always easy to use the frequent service of ferries from Dover to Calais as a foot passenger. They were also very attractive for people in Kent making a day trip to France. Now we face a climate emergency, anyone in Kent has no real incentive to reduce their carbon footprint when travelling to/from France.

One interim solution could be for South-east Trains to sponsor a coach service from Ashford International Station to Calais Ville station using the Eurotunnel Shuttle service. This would give connections from many towns in Kent into local and high-speed trains from Calais into France. Just a little bit of Government intervention is needed from the Department of Transport to kick start this solution – as they effectively “own” South-East Trains.