Eurostar is reporting significantly higher passenger numbers and revenue as it reveals the first figures since its move to the ”800m ($1.6bn) St Pancras station in London last November.
Traveller numbers rose by more than 21% to reach 2.17m in the first quarter of this year, while revenue also soared by 25%.
The train operator”s healthy results are in stark contrast to the UK”s other major public transport project ” the opening of Terminal 5 at Heathrow ” that created headlines around the world with its chaotic start.
And although Eurostar does not mention T5 or British Airways by name, it is certainly keen to point out that its move from Waterloo to St Pancras ” ”overnight” last November ” has been a resounding success.
Ticket revenues increased 25.2% to ”178.4m ($353m) during the first three months of the new services that use the High Speed 1 railway line, with trains able to travel at 186mph (297kmh) through the UK for the first time.
Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown is also trumpeting what he believes are the operator”s green credentials compared to airlines and in particular, the ”Tread Lightly” scheme.
”I am pleased that we are making progress on our Tread Lightly initiative,” he said. ”As I said a year ago, we don”t have all the answers, but we are chipping away at reducing our environmental impact and we will keep at it, right across the business. What”s great is that both our staff and travellers are ”doing their bit” and making a difference. We all have a duty to act.”
Weekend media reports suggested that Eurostar was looking to renegotiate its deal with the UK government that sees it pay a substantial sum for the right to use High Speed 1 and Eurotunnel.
But passenger numbers have been boosted by the new timings that see journeys to Paris and Brussels now take just 2h15min and 1h51min respectively. The service effectively drove airlines off the previous Gatwick-Paris routes, while Air France recently cut the number of Heathrow flights to the French capital in the face of the upgraded rail competition.