Virgin Trains’ plans to operate international services between London and mainland Europe in 2030 have moved a step forward after the UK rail regulator granted track access to the company.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said in a statement that it had decided to “pre-approve” a framework track access deal between Virgin Trains and London St Pancras Highspeed, which runs the UK’s only high-speed rail line, known as HS1, from London to the Channel Tunnel.
This agreement will allow Virgin Trains to operate up to 20 new daily return services between London and Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam from 1 October 2030 to 31 December 2040. This will give Virgin the ability to compete with incumbent operator Eurostar and open the line to competition for the first time.
Martin Jones, ORR’s deputy director, access and international, said: “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.
“While there is still more work to do, we are supporting Virgin and the wider industry to grow international services.”
Virgin Trains, which previously ran domestic rail franchises in the UK, still has several hurdles to negotiate before it can start running services to Europe in 2030. These include procuring trains, securing access to other rail networks in mainland Europe, and obtaining safety approvals from ORR and authorities in the EU.
ORR has already approved Virgin Trains’ application for access to Temple Mills international rail depot, ahead of other potential rival operators, including Trenitalia, Spain’s Evolyn and UK-based Gemini Trains. The depot is currently used by Eurostar but ORR has found there is capacity for a competitor to house their own trains at the facility.
When making this decision on depot access in October 2025, the ORR said that Virgin’s plans were “more financially and operationally robust than those of other applicants”, as well as offering “higher potential benefits” than rival bidders.
A spokesperson for Virgin Group said: “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.”
Virgin Trains plans to buy 12 high-speed trains from manufacturer Alstom to operate its UK-mainland Europe services.