Eurostar News
Eurostar record ticket sales
Eurostar’s ticket sales for 2009 totalled a record £675.5m, an increase of 1.7% on 2008. The volume of travellers year on year increased by 1.2% to hit 9.2m – despite the chaos caused by bad weather over the Christmas and New Year period.
Eurostar to pay £10m compensation for Christmas breakdowns
Eurostar is expected to pay out up to £10m in compensation to the 100,000 passengers who had their Christmas travel plans disrupted following the breakdown of the high-speed cross-Channel service.
Eurostar train breaks down in Channel Tunnel
A Eurostar train has broken down inside the Channel Tunnel after suffering “traction problems” due to heavy snow. The train has since been towed out but services are disrupted.
Veoila and Trenitalia mount rival Eurostar service
French water and transport group Veolia Environnement is in advance talks to run high-speed train services to compete with SNCF, including its Eurostar network. The joint bid with Trenitalia, part of Italy’s state-owned rail firm, would serve to break Eurostar’s monopoly on routes from Paris to Brussels and London, and could start in 2012.
Eurostar “confident” of travel for all before Christmas
Long queues at London St Pancras are continuing today as passengers scramble to travel on Eurostar before Christmas. The usually high-speed operator issued a statement saying it “remains confident” that there will be sufficient seats for everyone who wants to travel before the holiday.
Eurostar gets back on track
After three days of cancellations, Eurostar has resumed a limited service between London and the Continent. But there were chaotic scenes at St Pancras this morning as thousands queued in subzero temperatures in the hope of catching the first high-speed trains out of the station since Friday.
Eurostar chaos continues
All Eurostar services have been suspended today and passengers are being warned they may not make it home in time for Christmas. Eurostar is urging passengers whose travel is non-essential to change their dates of travel or seek a refund. The train operating company blamed the disruption of “acute weather conditions” in Northern France.
Eurostar drafts in French and Belgium drivers to cover UK driver strike
Eurostar is drafting in extra train drivers from France and Belgium to cover for U.K. staff who are staging a two-day strike tomorrow and Saturday. The high-speed train operator said this will lead to no disruption to services.
Journey times slashed on Pan-Euro high-speed rail
The realisation of a Pan-European high-speed rail network has taken a major step forward after the launch of a new co-ordinated timetable that sees journey times between key hubs across Germany, the UK, France, Belgium, Holland and Italy slashed.
Eurostar celebrates 15 years, over 100 million travellers & equivalent of 338 trips to the moon
Eurostar, the high-speed passenger service which links the UK and the continent, celebrated 15 years of service, over 100 million travellers and the equivalent mileage of 338 trips to the moon with a multi-media advertising campaign which was designed for maximum customer engagement.
Eurostar sales show signs of recovery
Eurostar has announced its Q3 2009 results which report a recovery in sales and “some signs of an upturn in business travel”. Sale and revenues for the year to date are down slightly and the business travel environment remains “challenging” but overall sales revenue in Q3 2009 is up 6.8% on the same period last year.
Eurostar launches “Trip Planner” on Eurostar.com
Eurostar, the provider of high-speed, carbon neutral rail journeys between the UK and the Continent, has launched “Trip Planner” on www.eurostar.com/tripplanner. Trip planner is an interactive online tool which allows Eurostar travellers to discover a huge range of different possibilities of things to do and see to maximise on their trip and to create their own personalised itineraries. .