ORR working with Channel Tunnel hopefuls as they try to secure depot space and challenge Eurostar

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is working with Virgin Group and international rail start-up Evolyn to help the companies access Eurostar’s Temple Mills depot to maintain trains, should they start running their own international services.

Both operators want to compete with Eurostar and run services through the Channel Tunnel, with Virgin targeting a modal shift from air to rail for journeys that take four hours or less, as part of its exploration into running cross-Channel services.

“The ORR is trying to help us. We have spent a year and a half requesting entrance to Temple Mills. It is the only depot in the UK that can be accessed, but it is good the ORR is helping us try and get some certainty,” Evolyn CEO Jorge Cosmen told an All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group (APPRG) meeting on November 19.

Temple Mills is owned by Eurostar and is used to store and maintain the operator’s fleets of Class 373 and ‘374’ electric multiple units.

Rivals wishing to access depots initially need to request access via the owner, but the regulator (the ORR) can intervene and approve direct access if an agreement cannot be reached formally.

“We’re at the point where Evolyn isn’t making the progress it had hoped to make on access to Temple Mills depot. Temple Mills is a crucial facility,” ORR CEO John Larkinson told the APPRG meeting.

“We’ve been through some formal processes, but one big question is: how much capacity is there at the depot? We’re assuming efficient use is being made at the depot, so you can’t just say ‘the depot is full because I’ve filled it up with trains’, it has to be used efficiently. And that becomes the fundamental question that needs to be established,” he added.

“That’s the area we’re working on at the moment. We’re aiming to work at pace. There’s no intention of making this a cumbersome process, but it needs to be a fair and evidence-led process.”

Cosmen’s comments were echoed by Phil Whittingham, Project Lead at Virgin, who told attendees that lack of access is holding the company back from ordering rolling stock.

“One key thing is the depot access issue - there’s no point in buying trains and not being able to maintain them. Getting access to the depot is really important. And the big thing is that there is capacity there - we just need to unlock that,” he said.

In response, a Eurostar spokesman said: “Eurostar has set out a process to allow access to Temple Mills, on which both Evolyn and Virgin have been engaged fully. This relies on capacity at Temple Mills, which is the wider issue. Eurostar did offer an independent capacity study on this process and is fully engaged with the ORR.”

RAIL understands that while neither Virgin nor Evolyn has submitted a formal bid to run services so far, both are in discussions with Getlink, which operates the Channel Tunnel.

Getlink CEO Yann Leriche said it was “simpler than ever” to start new services because of the work done by his company to simplify its rules and align them with international standards.

He added: “We’ve done this because now is the time to open the market to new companies, and the lead-in time to run services from the UK to Europe has reduced from ten years to five years.”

Should Evolyn introduce international services, Cosmen estimated that the company’s operations would create at least 500 new jobs in the UK.

He added: “We are convinced there is a good opportunity [to have competition] as it will bring choices for passengers and it will bring job creation, which is important.”

Whittingham also explained Virgin’s Channel Tunnel ambitions to APPRG members.

“We think it is really possible to try and get people out of aeroplanes and onto rail when you’re looking at short distances of four hours or less,” he said.

He cited Virgin’s previous growth when it held the West Coast Main Line franchise between 1997 and 2019, highlighting success on the Euston-Manchester route.

He also revealed that Virgin is “down to the final two” rolling stock manufacturers for a potential order, although he did not elaborate on which companies are in the running or when a decision would be made.

Virgin has not formally revealed a start date for services to run, nor indeed the destinations it intends to serve. But Whittingham hinted at a desire to take on the London-Paris flow.

“London to Paris is the biggest market and one we want to get into,” he said.

“It is there to grow, and we have a loyalty scheme where we have access to many millions of customers that we can try and encourage to earn and use points.”