Virgin Group is looking to raise £700 million to fund its plan to launch trains between London and mainland Europe by the end of the decade.
The group, owned by British entrepreneur Richard Branson, said it could launch a train service to compete with current operator Eurostar by 2029.
According to media reports, Virgin Group wants to raise £300 million in equity and £400 million in debt to finance the project, which would initially run services from London’s St Pancras station to Paris and Brussels before eventually adding trains to Amsterdam – all routes currently served by Eurostar.
The move comes just two weeks after the operator of the UK's high-speed rail line and Eurotunnel, which runs the Channel Tunnel, agreed a new deal to expand rail connectivity across the English Channel.
“The cross-Channel route is ripe for change and would benefit from competition," said a Virgin Group spokesperson.
"We think Virgin is the right brand to deliver this given its award-winning experience in the train industry and track record for building globally successful travel companies."
"While Virgin is not committing to launching a service just yet, we are seeking investment from like-minded partners to invest alongside Virgin and we are delighted with the progress made so far.”
Virgin has significant experience in running train services having operated domestic UK rail franchises between 1997 and 2019.
Dutch start-up rail operator Heuro has also expressed an interest in running services between Amsterdam and London.
Eurostar said in a statement that it “welcomes the development of rail services in Europe”.
"We have been operating in a competitive environment for years, competing with airlines, ferries and buses,” added the operator. “We still have a common challenge with our future rail competitors: to convince more travellers to choose the train.”