Signs of Eurostar sales recovery

Eurostar has reported a rise in sales between July and September, with "some signs of an upturn in business travel".

Sales rose by 6.8% compared with the same period last year, when the high-speed Channel Tunnel train service was hit by a fire which depressed sales.

In total, 2.6 million passengers used the service during the quarter, compared with 2.4 million a year ago.

The company said that a "bottoming out in the decline of business sales" also helped overall sales.

However, sales of £504m for the year to the end of September were down by 1% compared with last year.

Price competition

"Today's figures show that, despite tough times, people are increasingly realising the great benefit of travelling with Eurostar," said the company's chief executive Richard Brown.

"In recent weeks a number of our major corporate clients have eased their business travel restrictions."

Eurostar has enjoyed a monopoly on train services linking London to Paris and Brussels for the past 15 years. From next January, other train operators will be able to offer a similar service.

But Mr Brown told the BBC that he was not concerned about the increased competition. He said Eurostar had always faced competition from airlines.

"We would not have attracted the number of people we have if our prices were not as good, or usually better, than the airlines," he said.

Eurostar is a separate company to Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel. It pays Eurotunnel a levy per passenger.

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