Eurostar bounces back after bleak Christmas
EUROSTAR has recovered from the breakdowns which blighted the business at the close of last year to record a profits and passenger number boost in the first three months of this year.
The Channel Tunnel rail operator hit sales revenue of £178m in the first three months of 2010 – up more than five per cent on the January-March 2009 total.
Passenger numbers for the first three months of this year totalled two million – up from 1.9m in the first quarter of last year.
The number of leisure passengers travelling between the UK and the continent rose six per cent to 1.76m, while the figure for business passengers remained flat.
The rise was also by a 22 per cent rise in passengers from markets outside Europe.
Eurostar suffered a disastrous December with five trains breaking down as heavy snow parlaysed services.
An inquiry revealed a series of deficiencies in the company’s emergency plans which it says it has now addressed.