Virgin Trains has secured regulatory approval to operate passenger services between London and continental Europe, breaking Eurostar's three-decade monopoly on routes through the Channel tunnel.
Britain's Office of Rail and Road granted Virgin access to the High Speed 1 line, permitting up to 20 daily return services to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam between October 2030 and December 2040. Virgin, which already obtained access to London's Temple Mills depot in October 2025, plans to invest 700 million pounds in the venture and create roughly 400 jobs.
Eurostar has been the sole passenger operator through the tunnel since its 1994 opening. Eurotunnel estimates the infrastructure could accommodate up to 1,000 trains daily, compared with about 400 currently.