Virgin Group plans high speed rail service between London and mainland Europe

Virgin Group has unveiled plans to launch high-speed rail passenger services connecting London with Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam by 2030, AFAR reported. The proposed routes will travel through the 31-mile Channel Tunnel, directly competing with the incumbent operator Eurostar. [1]

The expansion comes alongside growing financial interest in European passenger train operations. According to Skift, private equity firm Certares has invested approximately 2.3 billion dollars in European and United Kingdom rail networks, anticipating further government measures to shift travelers away from short-haul flights and onto train routes. [2]

The company behind the project, Virgin Group, is a British-American conglomerate founded by Richard Branson that also retains an 11.9 percent stake in spaceflight company Virgin Galactic, Wikipedia notes. [5]

If approved and launched on schedule, the service will provide cross-Channel rail passengers with an alternative operator on key international routes between the United Kingdom and continental Europe. [1]