15 October 2008

Eurostar sales up despite Eurotunnel fire

Eurostar saw passenger numbers and ticket sales rise in the third quarter of 2008, despite the Eurotunnel closure.

For July-September, Eurostar carried 2.37 million travellers, up 6.4% against the same period last year.

The increase occurred despite EurotunnelÃ¢â¬â¢s closure of the Channel tunnel on September 11 and 12, which caused disruption to Eurostar services for the rest of the month.

Ticket revenues rose by 2.4% to Ã&#pound;152.3 million.

Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown said: Ã¢â¬ÅâœEurostarÃ¢â¬â¢s growth in the third quarter is particularly encouraging given the incident in the Channel Tunnel and that the comparative three-month period in 2007 was boosted by the Rugby World Cup."

EurostarÃ¢â¬â¢s punctuality for JanuaryÃ¢â¬'July 2008 averaged 92.6%, compared with an average of 64.8% for the airlines operating on the LondonÃ¢â¬'Paris and LondonÃ¢â¬'Brussels routes.

For the third quarter, EurostarÃ¢â¬â¢s punctuality was even better at 93.5%.

In the first nine months of the year, Eurostar carried 7 million travellers, up 13.9% on last year, with ticket sales up 17.2% to Ã&#pound;521.1 million.

Eurostar is seeing strong growth in demand from the UK regions, with increases of up to 100% in the number of travellers during the first nine months of 2008 from towns and cities in the Midlands and North of England.

Eurostar is currently operating an amended timetable due to the Channel Tunnel problems. Representing 93% of Eurostar capacity, the timetable will continue in force for some months until Eurotunnel is able to restore full access to both tunnels under the sea.

By Bev Fearis