In plans for future competition with Eurostar or other challengers, Virgin Trains has just taken a serious option. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has just granted Virgin Trains the right to use the Temple Mills maintenance workshop to the north-east of London's St. Pancras station, which until now has only been used by Eurostar. Owned by the British government, it still has a capacity of 20%. Eurostar trains regularly spend between two days and a week there during normal maintenance, and several weeks during a major overhaul every 3.5 million kilometres travelled.
Alstom to finalise order for 12 TGVs
Virgin Trains is aiming to compete head-on with SNCF's European subsidiary by launching cross-Channel services from London St Pancras to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam by 2030, with the south of France, Germany and Switzerland as later options. This green light from the British rail regulator will now enable Richard Branson's company to finalise its pre-order of 12 TGVs signed with Alstom on 15 August. The special feature of these trains is that they will be conventional and not duplex like the SNCF's next TGV M trains and 30 new trains ordered by Eurostar which is scheduled to enter commercial service in May 2031. Virgin has teamed up with two international investment funds, the UK's Equitix and Luxembourg's Azzurra Capital, for this project - which is estimated to cost £700 million (nearly €800 million).
A darker horizon for the other contenders
This funding and the deal with Alstom made the difference to the ORR when faced with other applicants wanting to come and run on Eurostar's turf and share the Temple Mills depot. "Virgin Trains' plans were financially and operationally stronger than those of the other applicants, and they provided clear evidence of investor support and agreement in principle to provide the necessary and appropriate rolling stock," the ORR stressed in its rendering. Trenitalia, on its own or in alliance with Evolyn, Gemini Trains with Uber as its trading name will therefore have to reconsider their copy, as the British government has not taken a decision on the construction of a second maintenance workshop around London.
A first step for Virgin Trains
With a fleet limited to 12 TGVs and " after reviewing Eurostar's growth plans, the regulator believes that Virgin Trains has the best chance of optimising the use of capacity at Temple Mills. "added the ORR. The economic interest was not forgotten in this decision, with Virgin planning to create 400 jobs. Although Richard Branson's group has won a round, it has not finished with the ORR, which still has to issue safety authorisations when the first trains are being tested, as well as granting train paths and access to stations on the British side. In addition to St. Pancras, Virgin says it wants to reopen Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International stations. Eurostar had withdrawn these stops in Kent in 2020 because they accounted for only 4% of its passengers, with no increase between 2009 and 2019, while traffic at London's St. Pancras International increased by 20% over the same period.
Eurostar was preparing for the arrival of competitors
During the summer, Eurostar wrote to the British government to make its position clear and to oppose the arrival of a competitor at the depot. The company even went so far as to blackmail the government, arguing that such a decision could jeopardise some of its expansion plans. Eurostar will now have to work with Virgin to reach an agreement on the use of the site.
For several months now, the company run by Gwendoline Cazenave is actively preparing for the arrival of one or more challengers. A €2 billion programme has been launched to renew the fleet in order to increase transport capacity and improve the experience for both business and leisure travellers. Eurostar has also joined forces with London St. Pancras Highspeed, which manages St. Pancras International (and operates the high-speed line on the UK side) to increase capacity at the London station, with cross-Channel traffic expected to triple by 2040 to 35 million passengers a year, compared with 11 million today. The redevelopment work will also benefit Virgin Trains if its project sees the light of day in 2030.
