Eurostar releases annual figures for 2009

Eurostar, the high-speed passenger train service that links the UK and mainland Europe, has announced its annual figures for the year ended 31 December 2009.

Ticket sales for 2009 totalled a record £675.5 million, an increase of 1.7% on 2008, as Eurostar welcomed 9.2 million travellers throughout the year. The volume of travellers year-on-year increased by 1.2%.

Eurostar’s Brussels trains route saw the highest growth in 2009. The number of passengers travelling from London to Brussels increased by 6% in 2009, in comparison with 2008, Eurostar’s Paris train route experienced a 1% increase in the number of travellers.

An upturn in overall sales for 2009 meant that revenue increased by 1.7%, this was boosted by a strong leisure sales performance with sales of these tickets up by 15.6% year-on-year. Whilst the economic environment remained challenging throughout the year, the second half of 2009 saw a ’bottoming-out’ in the business market.

These figures include the period of disruption in Eurostar services over the weekend of 18-20th December 2009. In a letter of 17th January, Eurostar apologised unreservedly for the problems that occurred and explained that it has put in place a number of operational and communication improvements to ensure that its trains have greater resilience to extreme winter weather and it is now much better placed to look after its customers when disruptions do occur.

Note to editors:
1. Following the disruptions to service in December 2009, an independent review is underway which will publish its findings at the end of January 2010. The review is being led by Christopher Garnett and Claude Gressier and will focus on the causes of the disruption, contingency planning, and the arrangements with Eurotunnel as well as the passenger care during the disruption and suspension of service.
2. A copy of the 17th January letter can be found at www.eurostar.com.
3. Since Eurostar returned to full service in February 2009 following the partial closure of the Tunnel in September 2008, punctuality levels, prior to the December disruption, have remained high with 95% of trains arriving on time.

About Eurostar:
Eurostar is the high-speed train service linking St Pancras International, Ebbsfleet International, Ashford International, Paris, Brussels, Lille, Calais, Disneyland Resort Paris, Avignon and the French Alps.

Eurostar is a founder member of Railteam, a partnership between Europe’s leading high-speed train operators that is developing simpler ways to book and travel on the fast-expanding, European high-speed rail network. Eurostar and Eurotunnel are entirely separate companies. Eurostar operates high-speed passenger trains, while Eurotunnel operates vehicle shuttle services and the Channel Tunnel itself. Eurostar is Eurotunnel’s biggest customer.

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