Passengers may be able to travel to France from east London as Richard Branson’s Virgin train service says it will; “explore” stopping at Stratford.
A spokesperson for the Virgin Group, which is in the process of reviving Virgin Trains on a cross-Channel rival to Eurostar, said that it is “looking forward to exploring additional stops, including Stratford International.”
The comments were made after East Ham MP Sir Stephen Timms called for Eurostar’s potential competitors to stop at Stratford due to the “fast-growing commercial opportunity” it would provide.
Mr Timms told The Standard: “I welcome the prospect of new operators. One of them, Gemini, has been very clear in its commitment to stopping at Stratford.”
“I would urge Virgin to stop at Stratford too,” he added “It’s a big and fast-growing commercial opportunity.”
Despite its name, Stratford International has yet to serve international train services. Plans for it to be used by Eurostar never came to fruition, despite sitting on High Speed 1, the rail line linking London with the Channel Tunnel.
The station is currently used by Southeastern for the UK’s only domestic high-speed service between London and Kent, in addition to the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).
In August, Virgin Trains received approval from the Office of Rail and Road to operate a cross-Channel rail service.
The group has plans to run 20 daily return journeys, as the tunnel is currently only used at 50 per cent capacity by Eurostar services.
Virgin Trains initially announced it wants to run services between London St Pancras and the same stations used by Eurostar in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam: Gare du Nord, Brussels-Midi and Amsterdam Centraal.
Now, in a statement to The Standard in response to Mr Timms’ plea, the Virgin Group spokesperson revealed: “Virgin’s ambition extends beyond its initial launch plans, and we’ve been actively engaging with stakeholders to explore future expansion.
“Virgin is looking forward to exploring additional stops, including Stratford International.”
The company said it is also considering whether its trains should stop at Ebbsfleet and Ashford in Kent.
Eurostar previously ran services from both these stations, but since 2020 has only operated out of St Pancras.
Wendy Spinks, chief commercial officer at London St Pancras Highspeed, raised concerns that overcrowding at St Pancras has only worsened following the expansion of security and border processing.
The Independent has contacted Virgin Group for comment.
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