“There are no more major hurdles to overcome,” a Virgin Group spokesman said after the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) ruled that Eurostar’s London maintenance depot, Temple Mills, could be made available to other operators.

“The Temple Mills depot is the only facility in the UK which can accommodate European-style trains and claims suggesting it was at capacity have been blocking Virgin from coming to the line,” the spokesman added.

The ORR said it would allow for “changes to operational and maintenance arrangements at the depot”.

Virgin earlier this month said it was looking to raise £700 million (US$907 million) in the hope of launching its own high-speed train service in 2029 linking London with Paris and other major cities in northern Europe.

Virgin Group ran the Virgin Trains franchise in the UK between 1997 and 2019.

Eurostar has been the only operator of the cross-Channel passenger rail service since it opened nearly 31 years ago, with previous rival bids hitting hurdles including regulation and restricted station capacity.

A record-high 19.5 million passengers travelled on Eurostar last year, up nearly 5% on 2023, driven by demand from visitors to the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris.

In recent years, many travellers have said they opted to take a plane rather than Eurostar because of the latter’s fares which are deemed too high on average, according to a survey in late 2024.