Virgin has confirmed its international trains will stop at Ashford and Ebbsfleet if the stations are updated to allow continental services to return.

Sir Richard Branson’s rail business plans to begin cross-Channel services by 2030 after its application to share Eurostar’s Temple Mills train depot in east London was approved.

The move - announced this morning by rail regulator Office of Rail and Road (ORR) - ends almost three decades of Eurostar’s monopoly on Channel Tunnel passenger services.

Ashford and Ebbsfleet have only operated domestic services since March 2020 after Eurostar stopped running from the high-speed stations.

It is understood Virgin services will call at them both “from day one” - but a question mark now hangs over who will pay to upgrade the sites.

Since continenta

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