ANOTHER rival to Eurostar and Virgin has revealed they will be launching new trains between the UK and Europe.
Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS Group) are Italy‘s state-owned railway operator, and previously bid to launch trains from London to Paris.
However, they were beaten by Virgin to become the first rival to Eurostar since it launched back in the 1990s.
Despite this, new plans revealed by The Telegraph has shown that they still plan to run routes between the two European capitals.
Instead of keeping trains at the UK Temple Mills International depot used by Eurostar and soon by Virgin, they will instead build a new £87million facility just outside Paris.
This will allow them to keep 10 Channel Tunnel trains there, without facing problems of capacity in the UK.
Just one train would need to be in the UK overnight to allow for an early morning departure from London St Pancras.
Being backed by US private equity firm Certares, the new London-Paris routes could launch from 2029.
Despite the UK train depots being at higher capacity, the Channel Tunnel currently runs under 50 per cent of capacity.
And the 2029 launch date would even beat Virgin, who aims to launch new European routes from 2030.
Virgin first announced plans to rivalling Eurostar in January 2025.
The initial direct routes will be to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, which Eurostar currently operates to and from.
However, there are future plans for trains to France, Germany and Switzerland.
Both Ashford International and Ebbsfleet International stations would also get Virgin trains, with both having Eurostar trains until the pandemic.
Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson said: It’s time to end this 30-year monopoly and bring some Virgin magic to the cross-Channel route.
“Virgin is no stranger to delivering award-winning rail services, and just as we have successfully challenged incumbents in air, cruise and rail, we’re ready to do it again.
“We’re going to shake-up the cross-Channel route for good and give consumers the choice they deserve.”
In the mean time, Eurostar recently revealed £1.7billion plans for double decker trains for the first time.
And Eurostar also has future plans for new destinations across Europe including Switzerland, Germany and Italy.
