Virgin getting ready for cross-Channel services
Virgin Trains has announced that it is firming up plans to order new rolling stock that will ply the cross-Channel route by 2030. The company stands ready to sign a deal with train manufacturer Alstom by end of October, as soon as the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) makes a decision about space in the Temple Mills maintenance depot.
Virgin plan to offer 20 trains a day which will compete with Eurostar on the Paris and Brussels routes, with further ambitions to extend into Switzerland and Germany. But there is no mention of intermediate stops in Kent or in France. This means that Virgin becoming the first competitor to Eurostar could set back the claim of Ashford and Ebbsfleet International stations by decades.
Maintenance depot space
The ORR has to rule by October 31st how to allocate the maintenance space at Temple Mills not currently occupied by Eurostar (18% of total capacity). It has to choose between the competing claims of Virgin, Evolyn, Gemini, TrenItalia and even Eurostar itself, all of whom have made detailed submissions to the Government. This is therefore a decision that will have profound implications for Kent.
Anyone who doubts the importance of maintenance depots to the operation of trains should read this article in Railway Gazette International. Although not related the Channel Tunnel, it describes how a track operator in south west France, Liséa, has decided to build a new maintenance depot in order to increase the use of its line. The Paris-Bordeaux TGV route is currently used at only 50% of its capacity due to a lack of maintenance space, and the new depot aims to solve this bottleneck.
The rail commentator Jon Worth has examined Virgin’s claim in detail on his blog. He deciphers the type of train Virgin is considering (200m single-deck train sets) and the lack of any mention of Ashford or Ebbsfleet, despite the fact that these train types would be well suited for intermediate stops.
Category: General News
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