Update on Eurostar rival train that could take passengers from UK to top European cities

There could soon be a new way of travelling over to Europe from the UK.

Ok, yeah, sure, there’s already plenty of ways to do that, from a quick flight to a serious level of road trip. But as it stands, there’s only one real option if you’re wanting to get over there by train.

Eurostar currently offers a number of services with routes to the likes of Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam from London. And Richard Branson is now working on having a slice of that himself with Virgin looking to launch a rival train.

Virgin trains could kind of be back on the tracks (Colin McPherson/Corbis via Getty Images)

Plans for the business magnate’s company to launch a transatlantic train route were first announced back in 2023. And now, The Telegraph reports the Virgin Group is preparing an order for a dozen high-speed trains to take out the journeys to Europe.

Project lead Phil Whittingham has said the company will be picking between two suppliers from a shortlist and is evaluating models from France’s Alstom, German Siemens, Japanese Hitachi and the Spanish operator Talgo.

This purchase of trains is expected to cost more than £500 million and the entire project itself could cost up to a whopping £1 billion.

We’ve still got a bit of a wait though, as Virgin is aiming to start these services through the Channel Tunnel in 2029. And it’s not the only one aiming to have trains running through from the UK to European cities, as start-up Evolyn also announced plans to go from London to Paris back in 2023.

So, essentially, the pair are in a race to secure routes for the route as there’s doubts over whether all three operators would be able to run alongside one another.

Eurostar is currently the only option (KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) will need to rule on whether there is even enough maintenance capacity for more operations to be going through the tunnel.

It will be decided whether or not the Temple Mills maintenance depot can handle the required number of new high-speed trains these new services would bring – something Whittingham is confident will be decided. But only for one company.

“We don’t believe there is room for three operators on the route. We don’t think the economics would work for three operators competing,” he said.

Eurostar has already pushed back on Virgin and Evolyn applying to use Temple Mills as it argued it’s already working ‘flat out’ on its existing trains. But Virgin is sitting tight, hoping to be ready to buy the trains the moment the ORR delivers a verdict. It’s expected this assessment will be completed this month.

So, it could be pretty soon that we’re finding out there’s more trains set to be running.

LADbible has contacted Eurostar for comment.