Businessman Richard Branson's Virgin Group is seeking to raise 700 million pounds ($904 million) in a bid to launch a rival train service to current monopoly holder Eurostar on routes between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe.

The Virgin Group began in the music industry but has grown to include finance, airlines, and the running of intercity train services across the UK. It is understood it would initially want to run rival services to those of Eurostar from London to Paris and Brussels by the end of the decade, adding Amsterdam at a later date.

"The cross-Channel route is ripe for change and would benefit from competition," said a Virgin Group representative. "While Virgin is not committing to launching a service just yet, we are seeking investment from like-minded partners to invest alongside Virgin and we are delighted with the progress made so far."

Currently, all passenger services between London St Pancras International and cities including Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam are run by Eurostar, as has been the case since November 1994, making the journey under the sea through the Channel Tunnel, which was completed in the same year, after six years of construction work.

There is also a separate rail service carrying road vehicles called Eurotunnel Le Shuttle, between Folkestone in England and Calais in France.

In December 2024, Robert Sinclair, chief executive of London St Pancras High Speed, which owns the terminus, told the Financial Times it was keen to double passenger numbers.

"Our high-speed line has 50 percent spare capacity … There's a significant opportunity that is sitting there waiting underutilized," he said.

Another potential new player in services between London and other European capitals is the Spanish Evolyn group, which announced in October 2023 that it wanted to take on Eurostar's monopoly, with the company's CEO Jorge Cosmen telling the House of Commons' All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group that his group could offer just over $1 billion of investment.

However, any company seeking to challenge Eurostar's monopoly faces a problem over access to the Temple Mills depot in east London, where Eurostar trains are stored and maintained.

Government department the Office of Rail and Road has commissioned an independent study, which is due to report back soon, into the capacity of the facility, because Eurostar has said it is already fully occupied.

Project leader for Virgin Group Phil Whittingham told the Daily Telegraph newspaper the company did not think "the economics would work for three operators competing" and that the company was ready to move as soon as the independent study delivered its verdict.

"We're hoping the regulator will determine what capacity is available and reserve it for a new competitor. And we expect the first person to come along with a contract for new trains will get that capacity."