The UK’s Office of Rail and Road has today decided that Virgin Trains should have access to the Temple Mills depot in east London to maintain its future Channel Tunnel fleet, and has rejected applications from Trenitalia, Gemini and Evolyn to use the facility. It has also, importantly, rejected Eurostar’s position that only the incumbent operator should be able to use the depot. ORR has published a press release about the decision (web page) and decision letter (PDF).
The crucial line in the press release is this:
Overall, Virgin Trains’ plans were more financially and operationally robust than those of other applicants, and it provided clear evidence of investor backing and an agreement in principle to deliver the necessary and appropriate rolling stock.
This is the gist of it. Virgin’s bid was simple, deliverable, achievable, rather uninspiring, and low risk. Reading its submissions prior to the decision (you can find them all here) you can imagine ORR nodding along and understanding what the implication of each part would be.
By contrast Gemini’s bid was radical – to not use St Pancras at all and terminate at Stratford. But this idea was marked down in ORR’s response, as it could not be fully costed. That might be justifiable, short term, but the capacity constraint at St Pancras is not going to go away. It is just likely not going to be Gemini that’s going to be finding a solution to that problem.
To not go with Trenitalia’s bid is harder to understand as so much of the Italian operator’s submission to ORR was redacted in public. I cannot believe they did not have finance in place, but little is known about the detail of their rolling stock strategy as a result of all the redactions. Trenitalia is the only operator that could, theoretically, run to London without access to Temple Mills – it will be interesting to now see how they proceed.
There are also losers from this. Those in Kent who have been pushing for the re-opening of Ebbsfleet and Ashford have little to cheer, as Virgin is not keen on those stations (and neither is the incumbent Eurostar either). Both Gemini (for Ebbsfleet) and Trenitalia (for Ashford) were keener.
Also the prospect of seeing direct trains from London to Germany and Switzerland is a more distant prospect today, as the Avelia Stream trains Virgin intends to order from Alstom will not be able to run under the 15kV electrification in those countries (as per Virgin’s submission to ORR in the summer, even though Virgin has more recently not ruled this out equipping the trains with 15kV entirely), so if anyone is to serve those destinations it is going to have to be Eurostar – and we have heard that from them before, and it would require their Avelia Horizon double deck trains to do it.
So today marks an important step towards competition through the Channel Tunnel. Given Eurostar’s sluggish complacency as the incumbent operator that has to be welcomed. But in opting for Virgin Trains – the most conservative and low risk of the rivals – I can’t help having this nagging feeling there is some opportunity missed here, even if, I suppose, some competition here is better than none at all.
[Update 30.10.2025, 17:10]
I have just been pointed to some information that I might have been too critical re. the absence of 15kV trains from Virgin’s plans – text adapted accordingly.
Section six of the letter is the best summary, I think:
“We have approved VTE’s application because we consider it offers higher potential
benefits than Trenitalia’s application or EIL’s proposals and because we have a higher
confidence of its ability to start operations promptly than we do in Gemini or Evolyn’s
applications.”
Yes. Although those points are not undisputed. Trenitalia (Hitachi) and Gemini (Siemens) would be more likely to get their trains on time than Virgin will for example.
Really ? AFAIK the Pendolino (aka Avelia Stream) is the only one having no order book at all at the Savigliano plant ; and the Velaro Novo doesn’t seem at a more advanced design stage.
Really. Where Virgin would be in the queue – either before or after Kevin Speed in ordering Stream – is unknown. Also don’t forget that Stream 1) has never run in France (the 1990s tests with a Pendolino were never pursued), 2) needs speed upping from 250km/h to 300km/h, so more motors than existing ED250 and ETR675 designs, 3) needs new suspension, as the coil springs on ED250 are going to be inadequate for 300km/h, 4) needs each carriage lengthening by 2m, and 5) Alstom always delivers late. So Stream, on time, is no foregone conclusion.
Velaro Novo hasn’t run anywhere as it doesn’t exist either so how would it be earlier ? (with Siemens having a backlog of Velaro MS and EG to build, presumably in the same plant)
I’m curious whether FS is still considering operating trains to London without access to TMI. There’s also the memorandum of understanding between Evolyn and FS, which so far hasn’t led to anything.
Meanwhile, SBB has announced plans to purchase new high-speed trains capable of running services to London. It’s worth noting that SBB is also seeking a partner for the London operations. Although Virgin has been in contact with them, Eurostar seems the more likely choice (especially given that SNCF holds a majority stake in both Eurostar and Lyria).
In my view, both state railways are more than capable of operating through the Channel Tunnel and increased competition on this route would be very welcome. I’m uncertain whether sufficient capacity exists on HS1 and at St Pancras to accommodate additional operators alongside Eurostar and Virgin.
The “Switzerland” argument is insofar weak, as neither Genève nor Basel do need 15 kV capabilities. Also considering that paths from Basel to Zürich are very rare, and a connection to Zürich would require (at current doctrine) a cooperation with SBB, its chances to come to existence is rather low.
OTOH, if you have 25 kV/50 Hz equipment, operating under 15 kV/16.7 Hz is possible; the transformer just won’t operate optimally, but in the case for Switzerland, reduced power is not an issue.
It’s not. Because Cornavin rebuilding is starting, meaning you cannot use only the 25kV platforms. Investigations are ongoing to find a location for a temporary terminal and that would need 15kV.
Basel SBB is harder to know, but there too the plan is to move the voltage change out of the station. So you might manage with 25kV for a few years, but not permanently.
Worth noting Peter Hendy’s quote on the matter:
“We are therefore exploring plans to establish new depot capacity in the UK, supported by private investment, to meet the needs of the market and will set out further plans in due course.”
Sounds like some sort of announcement will come