Who wants high-cost Eurostar when a cheap flight is faster?

When François Mitterand and Margaret Thatcher ratified the Franco-British treaty on 29 July 1987, Europe was a different place. Anyone who wanted to fly between London and Paris was obliged to pay at least £100 return, or endure the seven-hour rail-sea connection for a minimum of half that fare.

The French president and British prime minister promised a brave new world of travel opportunities. The core of the railway, later to be known as Eurostar, was to be high-speed expresses linking London with Brussels and Paris. But the provinces would benefit too.

By the time the tunnel opened to commercial traffic on 14 November 1994, a Cypriot, an Irishman and an Italian were working independently on a form of transport that would scupper the politician's plans.

The joke was on Eurostar. Within a year, Stelios Haji-Ioannou and Michael O'Leary had introduced the first no-frills flights within Britain on easyJet and Ryanair respectively. Along with Franco Mancassola's Debonair, they rapidly expanded into Europe.

Suddenly, the price advantage that Eurostar sought, crumbled. A return flight on Ryanair from Glasgow to Paris on Monday will cost just £119. Even if Eurostar could match this, few travellers would be prepared to endure an eight-hour train ride when a 90-minute flight is available.

The terrible events of 11 September 2001, and the heightened security measures and travellers' fears that followed, presented Eurostar with a huge opportunity. Yet the company continues to operate as if it were an airline, with all the hassle of a half-hour check-in, immigration controls and security searches. Were it to abandon these impediments, and operate just like any other international train within Europe, the product would immediately be much more attractive.

But as Concorde showed, Anglo-French transport endeavours involve extravagant investments, ambitious promises and poor returns.

The same time saving could be made for a total of £0, by abandoning the minimum check-in time. With a more attractive product, Eurostar might actually start hitting its financial targets, to the relief of the taxpayers of France and Britain.