Eurostar, the high-speed passenger service between the UK and mainland Europe has carried 5 percent more passengers over the May bank holiday weekend, compared to the same weekend last year.

Over 180,000 people from across the UK and Europe travelled on Eurostar over the weekend for a late spring break. A combination of increased demand from the early ash cloud disruption and a high volume of bookings for the bank holiday made this a bumper weekend for Eurostar.

Nick Mercer, Commercial Director for Eurostar said: “This has been our busiest May bank holiday weekend for several years. Bank holiday weekends are typically exceptionally busy, but with added concern about the ash cloud disruption we needed to schedule extra services on Friday and Saturday to meet the demand.

“Over recent months we’ve seen more people booking short breaks in Europe and with passenger numbers looking strong for the June bank holidays in France and Belgium, we’re expecting an influx of passengers into the UK as well.”

With convenient connections and fast journey times, it’s easy to travel between London and the continent with Eurostar. Journey times between London and Bruges are just over three hours, London and Amsterdam and London and Cologne are just over four hours and between London and Marseille just over six hours.