Hope for more Germany-UK trains as Eurostar monopoly on Channel Tunnel ends

With the British railway authority ending Eurostar’s monopoly on operating trains in the Channel Tunnel, there is hope for more rail connections between Germany and the UK.

Virgin gets access to Channel Tunnel

Eurostar’s monopoly of the Channel Tunnel is coming to an end as Britain's Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has given Virgin Trains permission to run trains through the Channel Tunnel. 

The UK company, founded by billionaire Richard Branson, will be allowed to operate on the tracks from October 2030 until the end of 2040, reports AD. 

In earlier announcements, Virgin spoke of plans for an international train route connecting London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, similar to existing Eurostar routes. 

In the longer term, there are also plans to expand routes which would connect these northwestern European cities to cities in Germany and Switzerland. In Germany, this would likely be cities already served by the Eurostar, namely Cologne and Düsseldorf.

Channel Tunnel more open for competition

Last year, Virgin Trains gained access to a major maintenance depot in London, and has now secured rights to run trains on the international rail network. 

However, this is just one of many steps the company still needs to take if it wants to expand further into mainland Europe.

Virgin Trains still needs to order trains, receive the necessary safety approvals from British and European authorities, and be granted access to the rail networks of destination countries. 

At the same time, there will be other competition on the Channel Tunnel with Trenitalia also planning to launch trains on the route from 2029. 

In January 2024, Deutsche Bahn also announced that it was considering using the Channel Tunnel to run trains between Germany and the UK.