{"id":12230,"date":"2026-08-27T09:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T08:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/27\/eurostar-rivals-when-every-competitor-is-set-to-launch-uk-to-europe-trains\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T09:09:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T08:09:00","slug":"eurostar-rivals-when-every-competitor-is-set-to-launch-uk-to-europe-trains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/27\/eurostar-rivals-when-every-competitor-is-set-to-launch-uk-to-europe-trains\/","title":{"rendered":"Eurostar rivals: When every competitor is set to launch UK to Europe trains"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A Eurostar passenger train speeds towards the Channel Tunnel\u2026 it could soon have company (Picture: Sameer Al-Doumy\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s finally happening: Eurostar<\/a>\u2019s three-decade monopoly over the Channel Tunnel is about to come to an end.<\/p>\n

Eurostar, a French-controlled international rail operator, is the only company providing direct passenger services from London<\/a> to cities such as Amsterdam<\/a>, Brussels<\/a> and Paris<\/a> through the tunnel.<\/p>\n

From 2029, though, that could change.<\/p>\n

Several train operators across the UK and Europe<\/a> have been locked in a battle to be the first to compete with the cross-Channel service<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As it stands, it looks as though Italy\u2019s state-owned railway company will come out on top<\/a>. But it\u2019s all to play for. Let\u2019s look at the contenders.<\/p>\n

FS Group<\/h2>\n

Italy\u2019s state-owned railway \u2014 Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS Group)\u00a0\u2014 \u00a0is currently winning the race to launch its own London to Paris route by 2029.<\/p>\n

First, it found a way around using train storage facilities in the UK (which has historically been a major stumbling block). <\/p>\n

And now, it\u2019s submitted a \u00a31.7 billion order for vehicles<\/a>: 19 high-speed trains, to be exact.<\/p>\n

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As is stands, Italy\u2019s state-owned rail group is winning the race (Picture: FS Group\/ FS Group train)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Those trains will be the core fleet for the group\u2019s\u00a0London\u00a0to\u00a0Paris\u00a0route, scheduled to launch in 2029.<\/p>\n

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Ask Metro<\/h3>\n

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They see it becoming the \u2018Metro of Europe\u2019, which sounds pretty good to us.<\/p>\n

Virgin<\/h2>\n

Next, we have Virgin Trains. Richard Branson\u2019s rail company is aiming to launch its own service in 2030. <\/p>\n

Last week, it moved closer to that goal<\/a> with the granting of track access by the rail regulator to enable it to run services between London and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.<\/p>\n

Virgin has cleared a big regulatory hurdle with this, but there\u2019s a catch.<\/p>\n

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Amsterdam could benefit from new direct rail services to European cities if any challenger bids come off (Picture: Alexander Spatari\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The access only covers the HS1 route, and Virgin still needs to secure the same for the Channel Tunnel and rail networks in mainland Europe.<\/p>\n

Promising to sprinkle some Virgin magic, Branson has previously declared: \u2018We\u2019re going to shake-up the cross-Channel route for good and give consumers the choice they deserve\u2019.<\/p>\n

Gemini Trains<\/h2>\n

In December 2025, we reported that Eurostar had plans to launch high-speed rail routes<\/a> between London and Germany.<\/p>\n

If all goes to plan, we could see Eurostar trains pulling into Cologne and Frankfurt by the early 2030s.<\/p>\n

But Eurostar is not the only one with these big plans.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s been 32 years of glorious monopoly for Eurostar (Picture: Yoan Valat\/EPA\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gemini Trains is hoping to launch rival services to Cologne as early as 2030<\/a>, and to Paris and Brussels after that.<\/p>\n

The company, chaired by Lord Berkeley, 85, a veteran railway engineer and\u00a0Labour\u00a0minister, has said they will deliver 10 high-speed trains for services to Europe.<\/p>\n

Evolyn<\/h2>\n

Evolyn promised a new service from London to Paris back in 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Spanish start-up bought 12 trains from French manufacturer Alstom for its new high-speed route, and promised to launch direct services by 2026. <\/p>\n

There was also talk of extending routes to Germany and Switzerland, but there hasn\u2019t been much on any of that since.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tEuropean travel inspiration from Metro\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Two airport workers die after being bitten by \u2018mosquito on a plane\u2019<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: A new European sleeper train will connect 4 iconic cities by 2028<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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The Getaway Expert<\/h4>\n

Your exclusive seven-day guide to travelling with confidence from Metro’s resident travel expert, Alice Murphy.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n


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A Eurostar passenger train speeds towards the Channel Tunnel\u2026 it could soon have company (Picture: Sameer Al-Doumy\/AFP via Getty Images) It\u2019s finally happening: Eurostar\u2019s three-decade monopoly over the Channel Tunnel is about to come to an end. Eurostar, a French-controlled international rail operator, is the only company providing direct passenger services from London to cities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SEI_308751033-bccf_1787818188.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200&h=630&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[15002,15004,7290,1750,15003,7521,3382,5974,1755,1011,6976,6910,397,2656,15005,795,1113],"class_list":["post-12230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-channel-tunnel","tag-competitor","tag-europe","tag-europe-travel","tag-eurostar","tag-france","tag-germany","tag-italy","tag-launch","tag-lifestyle","tag-rail","tag-rivals","tag-set","tag-switzerland","tag-trains","tag-travel","tag-travel-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}