For Londoners, mainland Europe\u00a0is just one train ride away. Heck, the Eurostar makes cross-Channel travel so easy for people living in the capital, they can hop over to Paris\u00a0in the morning\u00a0and be back in the UK before dinner. It\u2019s not so convenient for\u00a0anyone who\u00a0has to travel several hours to get to London St Pancras in the first place, but that\u00a0may soon change as\u00a0two cities further north could get their own direct trains to Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Birmingham<\/a> and Manchester<\/a> could get routes to mainland Europe thanks to Virgin. Richard Branson\u2019s company\u00a0is one of several\u00a0European train operators\u00a0bidding\u00a0to\u00a0create a train service to rival the Eurostar<\/a>\u00a0and end its monopoly of cross-Channel services.\u00a0If Virgin gets approved as a competitor, it wants to include Birmingham and Manchester in its planned routes to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a submission to the Office of Rail Road (ORR) back in July, Branson wrote that Virgin would\u00a0explore ways \u2018to enhance onward connectivity to the wider UK rail network\u2019 if it\u2019s chosen. The trains would have to run via the West Coast Main Line before diverting across north London to join the Channel Tunnel route at Stratford.\u00a0<\/p>\n Virgin also reportedly wants to\u00a0reopen\u00a0Ashford International and Ebbsfleet International stations, which have both been shut since Eurostar services were suspended there in 2020. Other bidders for Eurostar competition\u00a0Gemini Trains<\/a> and\u00a0Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane<\/a>\u00a0have similar ambitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n If Virgin wins the bid, it\u2019ll run 20 daily services from St Pancras to Paris and Amsterdam via Brussels within the next five years, with potential for additional destinations in Germany and Switzerland. The\u00a0ORR is\u00a0expected to decide which company will rival Eurostar by October 31.\u00a0<\/p>\n ICYMI:<\/strong> The full list of UK travellers that are NOT affected by new EU border rules<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n