Historic decision: Virgin to provide competition to Eurostar
Bring Back Euro Trains welcomes this historic day, as the ORR (Office of Rail and Road) gives the green light to open up the UK international rail market to genuine competition.
We congratulate Virgin Trains, well known for their innovation in the transport sector, on being awarded access to the spare maintenance capacity at the Temple Mills international train servicing depot in London.
This decision has the potential to be good news for the people of Kent. Virgin Trains have previously indicated their willingness to use Kent stations — provided a solution can be found to help finance station operations. The key challenge now is to establish how those station costs can be supported, perhaps through an incentive or subsidy scheme for a limited period.
The prize for Kent is significant — for local businesses, the visitor economy, and the many residents who rely on regular travel to the continent for work and family connections. The Good Growth Foundation in their seminal report highlights that restoring rail services Kent could attract 500,000 new visitors to the region, and region receives an injection of £2.7 billion into the local economy through the better connectivity.
Currently, Eurostar carries around 11 million passengers a year. With the right operator and investment, that figure could rise to 35 million. Bring Back Euro Trains looks forward to Kent stations playing their full part in making these ambitious passenger numbers a reality.
BBET looks forward to continuing the dialogue with Virgin Trains until we can find a solution to re-opening Ashford and Ebbsfleet’s purpose-built international terminals.
Category: BBET Campaign
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