Barclays Capital and UBS Warburg have secured a much-coveted mandate from London and Continental Railways (LCR), which plans to raise up to £1bn (€1.6bn) with a bond issue that will last a generation.

LCR, which manages the rail link between London and the Channel Tunnel, may raise up to £1.1bn from the debt issue. The maturity might be as much as 50 years, since the company's guarantee from the UK government does not expire until 2051.