British entrepreneur Richard Branson vowed Thursday to "shake up" cross-Channel train services after regulators approved a key bid by his Virgin Group to share an east London depot with Eurostar.

The Virgin founder said the decision by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to grant access to the Temple Mills International site for maintaining and storing trains was "the right one for consumers".

The move allows Branson to advance plans to launch a Virgin Trains service in 2030 to rival Eurostar, which has held a monopoly on passenger services through the tunnel linking Britain and France since it opened in 1994.

"It's time to end this 30-year monopoly and bring some Virgin magic to the cross-Channel route," he said.

"We're going to shake-up the cross-Channel route for good and give consume

See Full Page