Eurostar passenger numbers fall by 20%

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Eurostar, the operator of rail services between London, Paris and Brussels, warned yesterday that it had been seriously affected by the terrorist attacks on America with passenger levels down by about 20 per cent.

The rail company also said that its target of breaking even by the end of 2003 was likely to be pushed back by a year because of the downturn in its revenues.

David Azéma, chairman of Eurostar Group, said US bookings had fallen by around 70 per cent since 11 September. US passengers account for about 10 per cent of Eurostar's traffic.

"The US market has vanished, at least for the next few months," he said. "We have been hit seriously." Mr Azéma said that Eurostar was benefiting as a result of passengers switching from air to rail transport but this was not enough to offset the decline in the total cross-Channel market.

Apart from the US attacks, Eurostar has also been affected by the general economic downturn and the foot-and-mouth epidemic. "We expect that overall market conditions will continue to remain extremely challenging and uncertain, well into next year," Mr Azéma added.

Despite the fall in passenger numbers, Mr Azéma did not anticipate any significant job cuts among the 3,500-strong workforce and Eurostar is only planning to reduce services by two trains a day – equivalent to a 4 per cent cut in capacity.

For the three months from July to September, ticket sales fell by 7 per cent to £1.958m. Revenues dropped by 5 per cent to £106m with business travel holding up better than leisure traffic. In the nine months from January to September, revenues were up by 2.6 per cent at £336m.

During the first eight months of the year, Eurostar increased its share of the London to Paris travel market to 65 per cent while its share of the London to Brussels route remained steady at just under 46 per cent.

Mr Azéma said he was not opposed to government support for Europe's airlines in light of the difficulties they faced. "I think we are in a period where the state has a role to play," he added.