UK: The Eurostar HS1 appeal dated Aug. 14 does not expressly ask the regulator to revoke the Aug. 13 pre-approval of Virgin Trains’ framework agreement.

HS1 and adjacent railway lines near Cheriton terminal in Kent
HS1 and adjacent railway lines near the Cheriton terminal in Kent. Illustrative photo. Photo: David Anstiss, CC BY-SA 2.0

It challenges an earlier decision by HS1 Limited to treat paths requested by VTE OpCo Limited as existing services while Eurostar’s competing capacity request was being assessed. Eurostar asks the Office of Rail and Road to rule that requested rights do not become existing services, granted rights or firm rights until both regulatory approval and execution of a framework agreement. The challenged decision-maker is HS1 Limited, the infrastructure manager trading as London St Pancras Highspeed, rather than ORR.

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Eurostar challenges a classification, not an approval

The application form filed by Eurostar International Ltd runs under regulation 32 of the Railways (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2016. Two grounds are marked: the allocation process for infrastructure capacity and its result, and unfair treatment or discrimination. The form was signed by Gareth Williams, general secretary and chief strategic partnerships officer; the named contact is Samantha Spence, director of regulation, public policy and special counsel.

The step Eurostar disputes, which it labels the HS1 Decision, is the treatment of services requested by VTE OpCo Limited as existing services while Eurostar’s own request for rights running from Aug. 17, 2029 to December 2040 was being assessed. In the form Eurostar says HS1 is in effect “unlawfully reserving capacity for VTE as an access applicant.”

Date Step Party
April 24, 2026 Draft agreement and associated Form P initially submitted to ORR HS1 and VTE OpCo
June 19, 2026 Invites Eurostar to formalize its competing capacity request HS1
July 21, 2026 Applies for rights beginning Aug. 17, 2029 Eurostar
July 29, 2026 Eurostar says VTE’s dated Form P and draft agreement were submitted to ORR VTE OpCo and HS1
Aug. 7, 2026 Says it believes VTE’s requested services must be treated as existing pending ORR’s determination HS1
Aug. 10, 2026 Asks for the regulatory basis Eurostar
Aug. 12, 2026 Tells Eurostar to raise any further issues with ORR HS1
Aug. 13, 2026 Decides to pre-approve the VTE framework agreement ORR
Aug. 14, 2026 Dates the regulation 32 appeal form Eurostar
Aug. 17, 2026 Publicly announces the pre-approval ORR

Eurostar wants rights excluded until approval and execution

The form asks ORR for a direction on three points: that the HS1 Decision is wrong in fact and in regulation; that requested rights are not existing services, granted rights or firm rights until ORR approves them and a framework agreement is executed; and that HS1 proceed to assess Eurostar’s application fairly and without discrimination alongside competing applications and aspirations. As an alternative or an addition, Eurostar asks the regulator to step in itself and run a full assessment of which applicants, if any, should hold additional firm rights over the framework period. Eurostar says a decision on this procedural issue would not, in itself, determine the outcome of the capacity-allocation process and therefore would not be market sensitive.

The network statement of HS1 sets out no first-come rule

Eurostar’s argument rests on documents HS1 itself points to. Its network statement says applications are considered in the order received, but adds that where several are under consideration at once and cannot all be accommodated, the priority criteria in Part D of the HS1 Network Code apply. Eurostar reads that as the absence of any first-come, first-served obligation. Eurostar argues that the published regulatory documents do not explain how competing requests from international passenger operators at the same priority tier would be separated. HS1, in a July 15 summary of its consultation responses, had reasoned that Virgin’s form effectively reserved capacity because it would be obliged to enter the agreement once ORR approved it, and that applications meeting the assurance threshold could not be held back while others caught up.

Virgin’s HS1 framework pre-approval stands for now

The filing did not itself revoke or suspend ORR’s Aug. 13 pre-approval, although the remedy sought by Eurostar could affect how competing capacity requests are assessed. ORR decided on Aug. 13 to pre-approve the framework agreement between HS1 Limited and VTE OPCO Limited for up to 20 daily return services between London and Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam from Oct. 1, 2030 to Dec. 31, 2040, and the parties may enter into it by Sept. 4, 2026. The ORR decision letter phases those rights, starting with six daily Paris paths in each direction and reaching the full allocation only from October 2031. The Amsterdam rights become contingent when the total number of outward services by all operators from London St Pancras International exceeds 42 on a given day. Rolling stock, continental network access and safety approvals in Britain and the EU are all still outstanding.

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