Virgin Trains Speeding up the pace on its plan to compete with Eurostar on trans-Atlantic routes in the future 2030. Richard Branson's British railway company has indeed just passed « a strategic agreement »For the order for 12 Avelia Stream trains from Alstom. The French manufacturer will also provide maintenance for 30 years for these high-speed trains that can reach 320 km/h and carry around 500 passengers. This maintenance will be carried out at the Temple Mills maintenance center located in the south of London, which Eurostar will have to share according to a decision made a year ago by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). This black and red livery train will not have a floor, as the company is not a fan of it for practical reasons. Instead of maximizing the loading of the trains, it intends to offer a «travel experience” exceptional » inspired by its activities in the air and the hotel industry.
«Virgin Atlantic’s Clubhouse lounges will serve as a model for designing spaces for social interaction, both on the ground before departure and on board the trains, thus offering passengers greater freedom to work, relax or socialize in an elegant setting. Virgin Voyages’ food and beverage offering will inspire the selection of dishes and drinks, while Virgin Hotels’ emphasis on comfort and design will guide the design of seats and interior spaces.” »The Virgin Group explains in its presentation," adding that in addition to the comfort of the seats, the windows will also be larger, as well as the luggage compartments. The company also promises that Wi-Fi on board will be provided by Starlink, Elon Musk's mobile internet system. The restoration will be inspired by the menus offered on the Virgin cruises.
A total of 20 daily A/R services for 7.5 million passengers per year
The cost of the project is estimated at one billion euros, of which nearly 700 million will be spent on acquiring the 12 trains, the rest being earmarked for training staff with a thousand recruitments as well as for the company’s commercial and marketing launch. The project’s profitability is expected after 5 to 10 years, according to Josh Bayliss, the chief executive of the Virgin Group. Although Virgin Trains has already obtained the right from the ORR to operate high-speed trains departing from London starting October 1, 2030, the company will still have to obtain homologation for the new trains when the first units are delivered, a process that may prove lengthy. Moreover, these trains will run at speeds of up to 300 km/h on several railway networks, in England with High Speed 1 (HS1), the Channel Tunnel, and the European lines, as Virgin Trains aims to connect London to Brussels, Paris and Amsterdam.
The company intends to operate 13 return flights per day between Paris and London starting from the end of 2030 and 7 return flights with Brussels and Amsterdam, which would represent a total of 7.5 million seats over a year. Josh Bayliss is not worried about this increase in seats, stating:« that these additional capacities will naturally increase the market as a whole ». To succeed, the British group intends to rely on the 45 million annual customers served by its various brands. And even more so on Virgin Red, its loyalty program that will allow travelers to earn Virgin Points that they can use to make future transatlantic trips as well as flights on Virgin Atlantic, cruises or hotel stays on the in-house brands.".
More train stations in England
To stand out from Eurostar and reach a wider population base, Virgin Trains wants to serve other stations in England other than London St. Pancras. These would include Stratford International stations in East London, Ebbsfleet and Ashford in Kent. Some British media outlets are also reporting a possible connection with Bedford in North London, where a Universal Resort park is due to open in 2031. Virgin finally specifies that connections will be facilitated to allow its international customers to fly to London with Virgin Atlantic and then continue their journey to the Old Continent with Virgin Trains.
