Virgin plans high-speed rail UK-Europe with potential UK regional routes challenging airlines

Eurostar has operated a monopoly cross-Channel passenger rail service between France and the UK for over 30 years, attracting passengers away from air services, but also expanding the entire market.

Now the Virgin Group, which operated UK domestic rail services northwards out of London's Euston Station until 2019, says it will begin a cross-Channel service of its own - from 2030, if possible.

It will target the three key cities of Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam initially, with the possibility of other European destinations later, and of direct services from Birmingham and Manchester to those three cities.

The whole London-northern mainland Europe market expanded following the introduction of Eurostar services in 1994 and rail won out on city-to-city, door-to-door travel, but less so the further the travel distance and the time taken.

And travel time is one of many equations that will have to be taken into consideration for the proposed regional UK services, along with the practicalities of the operation, fare and service levels and politics, which dictates which infrastructure is - and isn't - built.

The effect of low-cost airlines is one of the elements that counted against regional services when they were last considered - over two decades ago - and those airlines have continued to proliferate ever since.