Virgin

is
reported
to
be
making
another
bid
to
stay
in
the
rail
industry.
This
time,
it
is
looking
at
international
trains
through
the
Channel
Tunnel,
and
seeking
to
raise
£700
million
for
potential
routes
between
London
and
cities
like
Paris
and
Brussels,
in
competition
with
Eurostar.

Richard
Branson’s
Virgin
Group
won
two
franchises
at
the
start
of
privatisation
in
1997,
but
lost
the
CrossCountry
franchise
to
Arriva
in
2007
and
Intercity
West
Coast
to
FirstGroup
and
Trenitalia
in
2019.
In
the
meantime,
it
acquired
10
per
cent
of
the
Intercity
East
Coast
franchise
in
2015
in
partnership
with
majority
holder
Stagecoach,
but
lost
that
franchise
in
2018
when
it
failed
and
was
renationalised
as
LNER.

Virgin
has
since
launched
a
separate
business
as
a
third-party
ticket
retailer,
and
has
also
submitted
an
application
for
up
to
five
open
access
routes
from
London
Euston.
These
applications
have
yet
to
be
decided
by
the
Office
of
Rail
and
Road,
but
the
Department
for
Transport
has
declined
to
support
them,
saying
that
‘We
do
not
believe
that
the
quantum
of
paths
sought
is
feasible
or
realistic
and
note
that
the
WCML
already
operates
at
close
to
capacity,
particularly
into/out
of
London
Euston.

‘This
application
is
also
at
odds
with
work
already
underway
as
part
of
the
Transpennine
Route
Upgrade.’

International
routes
like
the
line
to
the
Channel
Tunnel
have
been
open
access
since
2010,
but
a
competitor
for
Eurostar
has
yet
to
be
launched,
although
Deutsche
Bahn
toyed
with
the
idea
before
the
2012
Olympics,
and
more
recently
Spanish
Evolyn
has
unveiled
a
proposal
to
start
services
linking
London
and
Paris,
using
Alstom
rolling
stock.

Virgin
Group
wants
to
raise
£300
million
in
equity
and
£400
million
in
debt,
according
to
the
Financial
Times.

Virgin
is
quoted
as
saying:
‘The
cross-Channel
route
is
ripe
for
change
and
would
benefit
from
competition.
While
Virgin
is
not
committing
to
launching
a
service
just
yet,
we
are
seeking
investment
from
like-minded
partners
to
invest
alongside
Virgin
and
we
are
delighted
with
the
progress
made
so
far.’

The
owners
of
the
HS1
concession,
which
has
been
renamed
London
St
Pancras
Highspeed,
signed
a
memorandum
of
understanding
with
Eurotunnel’s
parent
company
Getlink
last
month,
in
what
is
being
described
as
a
‘landmark
partnership’
intended
to
increase
the
growth
of
cross-Channel
traffic,
possibly
adding
services
to
Germany
and
Switzerland.
The
number
of
international
passengers
through
St
Pancras
could
be
tripled.

There
is
one
problem,
which
concerns
depot
capacity.
Any
further
international
operator
would
need
to
use
Temple
Mills
in
east
London,
but
Eurostar
is
opposing
this,
telling
the
ORR
last
September
that
an
application
for
depot
access
from
Evolyn
was
‘presumptive
and
lacked
essential
detail’.
The
ORR
has
commissioned
an
independent
study.

Temple
Mills, opened
on
2
October
2007, was
the
successor
to
the
original
Eurostar
depot
at
Old
Oak
Common,
which
was
needed
for
domestic
purposes.

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