The Virgin Group is preparing to place an offer of nearly 600 million euros to acquire several high-speed trains. A first step towards competition with Eurostar?
Paris and London have never seemed so accessible. The Virgin group would like to accelerate its plan to compete with Eurostar, by already studying the purchase of high-speed trains, as mentioned by a company spokesperson.
“Virgin Group”, which already owns the airline Virgin Atlantic, wants to acquire 12 high-speed trains from the Evolyn group, a start-up specializing in the sector. A purchase that the company wants to conclude by next March. Their objective: to offer routes connecting London to the rest of continental Europe.
“a new cross-Channel era”
Their offer would be in the order of 500 million pounds sterling, or around 595 million euros. They are currently analyzing proposals from several large groups: Siemens, Hitachi, Alstom and Talgo. The overall project will require fundraising estimated at 1.2 billion euros.
The group’s spokesperson explained: “Trying to offer a new route offering via the Channel represents a big challenge. We believe Virgin is the ideal company to launch a new cross-Channel era, given its success in the rail industry.
The company owned by Richard Branson would attempt to challenge the 30-year-old monopoly of Eurostar (November 14, 1994). Coming from the SNCF company, it is currently the only one to offer rail journeys between the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe.
After the British market, Europe
The Virgin group’s dedicated train subsidiary is called “Virgin Rail Group” and has existed since 1997. It is 51% owned by the group and 49% by another British transport giant: Stagecoach Group. Created in the 1990s to take advantage of the privatization of the British rail sector, it has established itself as a leader in the connection between the main cities of the United Kingdom: London, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Chester.
Since the end of 2023, the company has been pursuing an aggressive policy, announcing its intention to enter the international train market, departing from England. A goal that Virgin seems determined to achieve in 2025.
Related News :