Cut-price rail travel from London to the Continent could stall

Times

06-05-2025

Cut-price rail travel from London to the Continent, with many more routes and destinations, could get stuck in the sidings in a wrangle over where new trains can be parked and serviced.
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Trains, the Italian state railway Trenitalia, and Gemini, a disruptor start-up, all want to launch new services on HS1, the high-speed line also known as the Channel tunnel rail link, to compete with the French-controlled incumbent Eurostar.
But their plans to piggy-back Eurostar's dedicated rolling-stock maintenance facilities in east London are being blocked in a dispute over access to the site.
While some have raised concerns that Eurostar is trying to protect its monopoly by seeking to limit access to its maintenance sheds, Eurostar insists the facility at Temple Mills near the Stratford International hub has insufficient space, especially as it has its own plans to procure an additional fleet of up to 50 new trains.
The Office of Rail and Road ruled in a report that some room could be freed up at Temple Mills, though the regulator conceded: 'Alterations to infrastructure would be required to access extra capacity and allow more trains to be stabled and maintained there.'
Eurostar has, however, objected to the regulator's judgment, stating: 'It is not sufficient to accommodate all potential operators, including Eurostar's own future plans which were not considered in the report. These include intensifying use of its current fleet to provide more services and buying up to 50 new trains.'
Gareth Williams, general secretary of Eurostar, who heads the legal team, indicated that spare space at Temple Mills could be found for one competitor but not for several rival operations. He said the situation would be further complicated if multiple rolling stock-types went into operation.
'The regulator needs to take a step back and look at the alternatives,' Williams said. 'We need a framework from the regulator to provide impetus to support and unlock alternative sites.'
In its submission to the regulator, Eurostar, which is controlled by the French state railway SNCF, said there were at least half a dozen alternative sites in Kent and east London which could have their use altered or be updated to house high-speed rolling-stock maintenance facilities.
Williams said the regulator should intervene sooner rather than later because Eurostar needed to get on with its own train investment plans while would-be competitors needed confidence that there would be facilities available. 'We need a collective solution,' he said.
The need to build new infrastructure would immediately make the plans of the three insurgent operators more costly as it is believed that the government would refuse to finance new facilities with public money.
Virgin Trains aims to raise £700 million to begin cross-Channel services if it is granted access to the line and the tunnel which both have plenty of spare capacity for new services. Trenitalia has talked about committing €1 billion. Gemini has yet to declare its funding.
The Office of Rail and Road has regulatory oversight over the Temple Mills facility and the power to compel Eurostar to offer capacity if it is available.
The Temple Mills facility was given to Eurostar in 2007 when the train operator, at the time co-owned by the British government, moved its operations from London Waterloo across the capital to St Pancras. Eurostar handed over its previous North Pole depot at Wormwood Scrubs in west London which is now used by Great Western Railway and Crossrail.