Virgin Group plans to raise £700m for Eurostar competitor: FT
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The news: The Virgin Group is hoping to raise £700 million ($1.4 billion) to launch a new cross-channel rail service that would compete with Eurostar, according to a report by the Financial Times.
The numbers: Virgin Group told the masthead that it plans to raise £300 million in equity and £400 million in debt, and that it intends to be a cornerstone equity investor in the project.
The project would be the first direct rival to Eurostar’s 30 year-old network, as a high frequency service that would run services connecting London with Paris and Brussels, extending to Amsterdam in the future. Virgin told the FT the network could launch as early as 2029.
A number of operators are weighing launching a cross-Channel service to compete with Eurostar, including London St Pancras High Speed, owner of St Pancras station, Getlink, owner of the Channel Tunnel, and Spanish-led firm, Evolyn.
Bids for the project are being held up by a dispute over access to an east London train depot where Eurostar carries out maintenance, as it is the only place where high-speed cross-Channel trains can be parked and maintained in the UK. Rail regulations state that any operator should be granted access if there is space, but Eurostar says that the depot is effectively full. Virgin and Evolyn haved appealed to the regulator to intervene and grant them access.
The source: Financial Times
