Up to 20 more return rail services between London and continental Europe could be a reality by 2030, thanks to a new track access approval granted to Virgin Trains. Virgin Trains has been given pre-approval by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to enter into an agreement with London St Pancras Highspeed (the railway connecting London with the Channel Tunnel) to run trains from St Pancras station to the start of the UK side of the Channel Tunnel. It will offer an alternative to Eurostar, which has dominated the tunnel since 1994. The approval covers the period from October 1, 2030 to December 31, 2040.
“Our plans for a new London [to] Europe rail service from 2030 are moving at pace,” said a Virgin Group spokesperson in a statement shared with Broadsheet. “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.”
While the pre-approval is a significant move towards an increase in services, there are still multiple more steps before they can begin. Virgin Trains needs to obtain rolling stock, get access to rail networks in the EU and secure safety approvals here and in the EU.
The ORR has already confirmed Eurostar’s Temple Mills depot in Leyton – the only depot in the UK able to accommodate continental Europe’s larger trains – is able to expand its capacity for more trains, and in October 2025 gave Virgin Trains access approval to the depot, marking the first step for the company to run cross-bored services via the tunnel. Virgin Trains’s application won out over other operators Evolyn, Gemini and Trenitalia, with the ORR believing Virgin has the “strongest prospects of making the best use of capacity at Temple Mills”. It is expected to create around 400 new jobs.
“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,” Martin Jones, the deputy director, access licensing and international at ORR said in a statement. “While there is still more work to do, we are supporting Virgin and the wider industry to grow international services.”
