Richard Branson's Virgin orders 12 international trains which could stop at two major London stations

Sir Richard Branson is pressing ahead with plans to run international trains to the Continent which could stop at two London stations.The Virgin Group aims to introduce 20 daily return services between the capital, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam from 2030, adding nearly 7.5 million seats to the cross-Channel route a year.Sir Richard Branson says it is time to ‘bring some Virgin magic’ to the cross-Channel routePA MediaThe company has signed an agreement for 12 Avelia Stream trains with French rail group Alstom which will also service them under a 30-year maintenance contract. Josh Bayliss, chief executive of the Virgin Group, said: “We’ll be connecting London with some of Europe’s greatest cities and giving passengers a distinctive new choice in cross-Channel travel. “Virgin has always thrived on challenging the status quo and aimed to provide our customers with a great experience. “We’ll bring the same approach to the cross-Channel route, making the journey something to look forward to as much as the destination.”An image of Virgin’s planned international trainsVirgin GroupRead MoreThe agreement covers the period between October 1 2030 to December 31 2040 and relates to tracks owned and run by London St Pancras High Speed.Virgin has also signed an agreement with Eurostar so it can maintain its trains at the Temple Mills International depot in east London.Cocktail bars will be featured on Eurostar’s Celestia fleetPAEurostar has so far declined to have two stops in the capital. A Eurostar spokesperson said: "Eurostar has no plans to operate out of Stratford International, however growing international rail is a huge opportunity for the UK and boosted infrastructure capacity is one of the ways to unlock it. “We've called on the Government to use it's convening power to bring together infrastructure providers, operators, and public bodies to solve constraints on stations and depots.“