Brexit contributes to Eurostar passenger downturn

Brexit and the continued impact of the terrorist attacks in Brussels are behind Eurostar’s “challenging” second quarter results for 2016.

The company reported that passenger numbers in the second quarter were down 3% compared with last year (2.7 million in Q2 2016 from 2.8 million in Q2 2015), and that its sales revenues were 10% lower year-on-year (£208 million in Q2 2016 from £232m in Q2 2015).

Eurostar reported a 2% increase in travellers in June during the Euro 2016 football tournament held in France, with more than one million people using high-speed rail to reach matches.

However, this was against a drop in business travel caused by the uncertainty of the UK’s future relationship with Europe, following the referendum to leave the European Union, as well as a continued slowdown in traffic from international markets, particularly from America and Japan.

“In the run up to the EU referendum we experienced a slowdown in business travel, and the uncertainty following the vote to leave, combined with the Brussels terrorist attack, has continued to dampen demand,” said Eurostar Chief Executive Nicolas Petrovic.

• For more on this, read RAIL 807, published on August 17.
• For an in-depth look at the new e320 Velaros, read RAIL 808, published on August 31.