Chancellor George Osborne has said the Government is seeking bidders for its 40% stake in the Eurostar rail service to help reduce Britain's public sector debt pile.
Potential buyers have until the end of the month to make expressions of interests.
The Government said it expects to reach "definitive agreements" in the first quarter of 2015.
The sale forms part of the Government's plan to sell £20bn of corporate and financial asset sales by 2020.
Mr Osborne said: "I am determined that we go on making the decisions to reform the British economy and tackle our debts. So we will proceed with the potential sale of the UK's shareholding in Eurostar today.
"Ensuring that we can deliver the best quality infrastructure for Britain and the best value for money for the taxpayer are key parts of our long term economic plan.
"As part of our aim to achieve £20bn from assets sales by 2020, the sale proceeds would make an important contribution to the task of reducing the public sector debt."
Labour has warned it could follow the Royal Mail privatisation as a "rushed and under valued" sell-off.
Mary Creagh, shadow transport secretary, said: "Eurostar is a national strategic asset that is set to grow and to return increased profits to the UK taxpayer with new routes to Geneva, Lyon, Marseille and Amsterdam.
"After the staggering incompetence of the Royal Mail sale fiasco, which lost taxpayers a billion pounds, people will worry that this is yet another rushed and undervalued sell-off.
"City adviser UBS made millions from Royal Mail and is advising on the Eurostar sale. Lord Myners is still conducting his review into government privatisations after Royal Mail, and ministers should await his report before any sale begins.
"The National Audit Office should urgently conduct a value-for-money inquiry before this sale proceeds. We must ensure that taxpayers are not ripped off again by bungling ministers and poor financial advice from the City."
Rail, Maritime and Transport union general secretary Mick Cash said: "This is a gross act of betrayal of the British people by a right wing government hell bent on selling off the family silver regardless of the real cost."
Since services began in 1994, Eurostar has carried over 145 million passengers, with over 10 million in 2013 alone, while sustaining traffic growth every year for the last decade.
The Government put the stake up for sale last December as part of a plan to privatise state assets.
The French state train company SNCF owns 55% of Eurostar and Belgium's SNCB holds 5%.
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