Eurotunnel mulls bid for UK high-speed rail--FT

LONDON, June 25 (Reuters) - Cross-channel rail tunnel operator Eurotunnel (GETP.PA), is considering a bid for Britain's only dedicated high-speed rail line, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

"I'm looking carefully at the High Speed 1 privatisation," Jacques Gounon, the executive chairman of Groupe Eurotunnel, told the FT.

The British government took over London & Continental Railways (LCR) -- owner of the High Speed 1 track, which carries trains at up to 186 mph (300 km per hour) between London and the Channel Tunnel -- earlier this month, the paper said.

The government was expected to break up LCR, which owns the 68 miles of track, a stake in the Eurostar service that runs on it and valuable development land nearby.

The paper said the possible Eurotunnel bid came as the company prepared to buy back the last in a series of financial instruments formed during the company's restructuring in 2007.

"If I want to have a simple, stable capital structure, it is because I don't want some commentators to argue if there is a High Speed 1 privatisation that my complex structure will be a legitimate reason for Eurotunnel not to tender," Gounon said. (Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Gary Hill)