Move over Eurostar, Virgin given approval for London-to-Paris train services
Eurostar is in a Branson pickle
Virgin Trains has secured a deal to let it operate trains running from London to destinations across Europe, including Paris.
This is all thanks to the rather unglamorous-sounding Office of Rail and Road (ORR), which has granted Virgin Trains the right to operate on the lines you currently have to head to Eurostar to travel across.
Eurostar has effectively had a monopoly on its services since its passenger services began in 1994. And that’s about to be nixed — although we do have a bit of a wait ahead.
The deal will allow Virgin Trains to operate rival services from October 2030, and runs until 2040.
Plans are for up to 20 “return services a day,” with locations including Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.
More competition, better prices?
This not a new plan, of course, just another step along the road to making it happen. For example, almost a year ago in October 2025 Virgin Trains was granted access to the Temple Mills International depot. And rumours of these Virgin Trains plans began circulating at pace in 2023.
The hope, from the consumer’s end, is the increased competition will see these train services become lower-cost. Book early enough and you can get a return ticket to one of Eurostar’s key terminals for under £100, or under £80 during the company’s fairly regular sales events.
It’s not bad, but it’s not on the level of the £50 return flights to Paris you can pick up from Easyjet for this September, if the less desirable times suit your schedule.
“This is an important next step in bringing competition and growth to the market for international rail services, and we welcome the progress Virgin Trains and London St Pancras High Speed have made,” says Martin Jones, the Office of Rail and Road’s deputy director of “access & international.”
“While there is still more work to do, we are supporting Virgin and the wider industry to grow international services.”
One of the next steps is for Virgin to actually get hold of the trains it needs. Back in August 2025 it was reported the company made an order for 12 high-speed trains capable of running at up to 300km per hour.
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