Virgin has beaten off three other competitors for access to Eurostar’s train maintenance facilities near London, an essential component to starting services.
If Virgin begins running trains through the Channel Tunnel, it will end Eurostar’s more than 30-year monopoly, meaning reduced fares and more frequent services.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR), the rail regulator which approved Virgin’s access to the Temple Mills International depot, said it was an “important first step towards being able to operate cross border train services using the channel tunnel”.
