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HS1 Ltd, the owner of Britain’s only high-speed railway, has been told to lower the charges that train operators including Eurostar pay to use the line linking London to the Channel Tunnel.
The Office of Rail and Road, the industry regulator, on Monday ruled that charges should come down by 3.8 per cent, or £5mn a year, compared with HS1’s proposal.
Feras Alshaker, director of planning and performance at the ORR, said the changes would “result in significantly lower costs” for train operators, “which should benefit everyone who uses this railway”.
As well as Eurostar, the line and its central London station at St Pancras is used by UK domestic operators Southeastern and East Midlands Railway.
The changes could result in lower ticket prices for passengers if they are passed on by operators. The ORR said Eurostar and Southeastern, by far the largest groups on the high-speed line, had pushed for even lower charges to be paid to HS1.
Eurostar and Southeastern have also said that high track charges are one factor that has stopped them running more trains on the line, which only operates at about half of its potential capacity.
Along with the Channel Tunnel owner Getlink, HS1 has been encouraging more train operators to launch international services linking London and continental Europe.
Several companies including Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and a consortium backed by the largest shareholders in London-listed Mobico, formerly known as National Express, are exploring starting new services linking the UK and mainland Europe, while the incumbent Eurostar also has significant growth plans.
HS1 chief executive Robert Sinclair last month told the Financial Times that the company planned to more than double the international passenger capacity of St Pancras station to help encourage major growth.
The rail infrastructure is ultimately owned by the UK government. But HS1 Ltd, which is owned by fund managers InfraRed Capital Partners and Equitix Investment Management, has a 30-year concession to own and operate the HS1 rail line and stations along its route.
The ORR ruled that HS1 would be able to charge operators a total of £126.7mn a year between April 2025 and March 2030. The company had asked to charge £131.6mn.
The regulator said HS1 had been directed to reduce its charges for renewing its track assets and its stations, including St Pancras. It must also reduce its charges for its day-to-day operating and maintenance of the railway.
“Although, overall, HS1’s original plans were good, the company must now change specific areas of those plans to account for our decisions,” Alshaker said.
HS1 Ltd said: “We are pleased to see the ORR’s positive endorsement for our plan for the next five years and we now look forward to seeing how the lower cost to operators drives growth on HS1.”
Eurostar and Southeastern did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
