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High Speed 1
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== Ownership and licences to operate == On completion of section 1 by RLE, the line was handed over to Union Railways (South), which then handed it over to ''London & Continental Stations and Property'' (LCSP), the line's long-term owners. Once section 2 of the line had been completed, it was handed over to Union Railways (North), which handed it over to LCSP. The entire line, including St Pancras, is managed, operated and maintained by Network Rail (CTRL). In February 2006, there were rumours that a 'third party' (believed to be a consortium headed by banker Sir [[Adrian Montague]]) had expressed an interest in buying out the present partners in the project.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2095-2046857,00.html |newspaper=The Sunday Times |first=Tracey |last=Boles |date=19 February 2006 |title=City grandee tries to grab tunnel link firm |access-date=15 November 2006 |location=London |archive-date=7 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107234850/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }}{{subscription required}}</ref> LCR shareholders rejected the proposal,<ref name="rejected takeover" /> and the government, which could effectively overrule shareholders' decisions as a result of LCR's reclassification as a state-owned body,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/feb/21/transportintheuk.politics |newspaper=The Guardian |date=21 February 2006 |title=Debt-laden Channel tunnel rail link is 'nationalised' |access-date=15 November 2006 |location=London |first1=Andrew |last1=Clark |first2=Ashley |last2=Seager |archive-date=29 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829225550/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/feb/21/transportintheuk.politics |url-status=live }}</ref> decided that discussions with shareholders would not take place imminently, which effectively backed shareholders' views on the proposed takeover.<ref name="rejected takeover">{{cite news |url= http://www.railwaypeople.com/rail-news-articles/lcr-rejects-takeover-bid-1024.html |work= RailwayPeople |location= Ashby-de-la-Zouch |date= 31 March 2006 |title= LCR rejects takeover bid |access-date= 15 November 2006 |archive-date= 16 October 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061016153447/http://www.railwaypeople.com/rail-news-articles/lcr-rejects-takeover-bid-1024.html |url-status= live }}</ref> By May 2009, LCR had become insolvent, and the government received an agreement to use state aid to purchase the line and to open it up to competition to allow other services to use it apart from Eurostar.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.nce.co.uk/news/transport/government-takes-control-of-london-and-continental/5203105.article |date=8 June 2009 |access-date=16 February 2010 |title=Government takes control of London and Continental |magazine=New Civil Engineer |location=London |first=Ed |last=Owen |archive-date=27 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427082045/http://www.nce.co.uk/news/transport/government-takes-control-of-london-and-continental/5203105.article |url-status=live }}</ref> LCR's wholly owned subsidiary, HS1 Ltd, thus became the property of the Secretary of State for Transport.<ref name="MR201012">{{cite news |date=December 2010 |title=HS1 concession sold |work=[[Modern Railways]] |location=London |page=6}}</ref> On 12 October 2009 a proposal was announced to sell £16 billion of state assets including HS1 Ltd in the following two years to cut UK public debt.<ref>{{cite news|date=12 October 2009 |url=http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Money/Story/STIStory_441123.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015060815/http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Money/Story/STIStory_441123.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 October 2009 |title=British state assets selloff |newspaper=[[The Straits Times]] |location=Singapore |access-date=12 October 2009 |df=dmy }}</ref> In November 2010, the HS1 concession was awarded for a duration of thirty years to an investment consortium bringing together two Canadian public pension funds: [[Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System]] (through its subsidiary [[Borealis Infrastructure]]), and [[Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan]] for £2.1 billion.<ref name="concession">{{cite news |date=5 November 2010 |title=High Speed 1 concession awarded to Canadian pension consortium |url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/high-speed-1-concession-awarded-to-canadian-pension-consortium.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101108014309/http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/high-speed-1-concession-awarded-to-canadian-pension-consortium.html |archive-date=8 November 2010 |access-date=5 November 2010 |work=[[Railway Gazette International]] |location=London}}</ref> At the time, UK pension investors had generally limited interest in such long-term, illiquid, 'infrastructure assets'.<ref>{{cite news |last=Firzli |first=M. Nicolas J. |date=2013 |title=Transportation Infrastructure and Country Attractiveness |url=https://www.academia.edu/6494981 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904095706/http://www.academia.edu/6494981/Transportation_Infrastructure_and_Country_Attractiveness |archive-date=4 September 2015 |access-date=26 April 2014 |work=Revue Analyse Financière |location=Paris}}</ref> Under the concession, HS1 Ltd has the rights to sell access to track and to the four international stations (St Pancras, Stratford, Ebbsfleet and Ashford) on a commercial basis, under the scrutiny of the [[Office of Rail & Road]]. At the end of thirty years, ownership of the assets will revert to the government.<ref name="MR201012" /> The private operator does not hold the [[freehold (law)|freehold]] or rights to any of the associated land.<ref>{{cite news |last=Milmo |first=Dan |date=28 January 2011 |title=Highest bidder asks why it lost Channel tunnel rail link sale |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/jan/28/highspeedone-losing-bidder-foi-request |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113053845/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/jan/28/highspeedone-losing-bidder-foi-request |archive-date=13 January 2015 |access-date=2 February 2011 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |quote=[the] transport secretary … stressed that the deal did not include the railway's freehold or the land itself.}}</ref> In 2017, the sale of the 30 year HS1 concession was announced to funds advised and managed by InfraRed Capital Partners and Equitix Investment Management; participants include [[HICL Infrastructure Company|HICL]] Infrastructure (35%), Equitix (35%) and South Korea's [[National Pension Service]] (30%), for an enterprise value of £3 billion.<ref>{{cite news |date=17 July 2017 |title=HS1 concession sold on |url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/business/single-view/view/hs1-concession-sold-on.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724132514/http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/business/single-view/view/hs1-concession-sold-on.html |archive-date=24 July 2017 |access-date=26 July 2017 |work=Railway Gazette International}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-07-14 |title=HS1 railway line sold for EV of £3bn, below initial expectations |url=https://www.ft.com/content/0c0744d0-68a4-11e7-9a66-93fb352ba1fe |access-date=2023-04-09 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> HS1 Ltd rebranded as London St. Pancras Highspeed in February 2025.<ref name="MR202502">{{cite news |url=https://railway-news.com/uk-hs1-ltd-rebrands-as-london-st-pancras-highspeed/ |title=UK: HS1 Ltd Rebrands as London St. Pancras Highspeed |work=Railway News |author= Tiana May|date=14 February 2025}}</ref>
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