Eurostar secures financial support package
Cash-strapped Eurostar has secured a refinancing agreement with its shareholders and banks.
It adds funding of £250 million and mainly consists of additional equity and loans from a syndicate of banks guaranteed by the shareholders, including French state railway group SNCF and Patina Rail LLP.
The refinancing agreement is the key factor enabling Eurostar to increase services as cross-channel travel demand improves, says Jacques Damas, Chief Executive of Eurostar.
"Everyone at Eurostar is encouraged by this strong show of support from our shareholders and banks which will allow us to continue to provide this important service for passengers. Eurostar will continue to work with governments to move towards a safe easing of travel restrictions and streamlining of border processes to allow passengers to travel safely."
It will focus on restoring demand for travel on Eurostar’s core routes between London and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, and rigorous cost control to ensure the repayment of loans.
Eurostar plans to increase the number of trains on its London-Paris route to two daily return services from 27 May, and three per day from the end of June.
It will then gradually increase the frequency over the summer period as travel restrictions are eased.
It says the refinancing package will allow it to successfully complete its merger with French-Belgian rail operator Thalys, as part of the Green Speed project.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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