Virgin Trains has agreed a deal with French manufacturer Alstom for 12 new high-speed trains as part of its plan to compete with Eurostar on cross-Channel routes from 2030.
The company’s submission to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) confirms it has secured binding exclusivity for the Avelia Stream model — the latest generation of the Pendolino tilting trains that Virgin introduced to the UK’s West Coast Main Line two decades ago. Similar trains are already in service in Sweden and Italy.
Virgin’s proposal outlines services from London St Pancras to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam, with longer-term ambitions to extend further into France, Germany, and Switzerland. The venture will be led by Phil Whittingham, former boss of Virgin Trains UK.
The company says it is the only current applicant with both funding and trains secured. The plan requires around £700 million in capital, with a structure involving a 50% Virgin stake and two undisclosed institutional shareholders. Virgin envisages separate operating and rolling stock asset-holding companies.
Competition to enter the market is mounting, with the ORR also considering applications from Trenitalia, Italy’s state-owned railway, and UK start-up Gemini.
Writing in The Times, Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson said his aim was to inject competition and improve the passenger experience:
“For too long, passengers have had no choice and even less joy. We’re not here to copy. We’re here to raise standards, spark innovation and give people a better way to travel.”
If approved, Virgin’s services would mark the first significant challenge to Eurostar’s dominance of the Channel Tunnel passenger market since it began operating in 1994.
