Eurostar
Celebrating the great European railway conference connector
WE MARK THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF EUROSTAR ’ S FULL DAILY SERVICE , WHICH STARTED IN MAY 1995 , AND CHART THE ROLLER COASTER RIDE SINCE THE INCEPTION OF THE HIGH- SPEED RAIL LINK THAT CONNECTS BELGIUM , FRANCE , GERMANY , THE NETHERLANDS AND THE UNITED KINGDOM
T he railroad to Eurostar success has not been a smooth ride : a series of fires on shuttle cars in the early decades hindered the marketing effort , as well as the perception of speed and , often , cost compared to flying .
In the early days the trains on the French side would speed along only for the journey to slow to a crawl once hitting the UK ’ s ageing rail network .
In 2003 , nine years after opening , Eurotunnel ( as the enterprise was then known ) had a £ 6bn ( US $ 7.08bn ) debt and was paying £ 318m in interest – almost double its operating profit .
High Speed 1 , launched in 2007 ( and costing the UK taxpayer £ 4.8bn ) was a game-changer in terms of speeding things up and a new unitary restructured Eurostar company , by 2010 , was finally able to compete with the air carriers .
By 2013 sales ( 7 %) and operating profits ( 4 %) were rising .
The service had found its niche – one which avoided departure queues , x-rays and uncomfortable frisking of airports .
Eurostar began seriously targeting the business market and today continues to connect the UK with mainland Europe on the back of significant growth in 2024 when it reported a 5 % increase in passenger numbers ( 19.5m ) compared to 2023 .
London to Paris and Brussels remain the main routes and show the most growth (+ 280k and + 250k passengers , respectively , last year ), but new ones opened up over the years , including the Swiss Alps in 2013 , Marseilles in 2015 and Amsterdam in 2016 .
Eurostar is targeting growth to 30m passengers a year on the back of investment in up to 50 new trains , notes CEO Gwendoline Cazenave . She claims the carbon footprint of travelling on these trains is 95 % less than flying .
Above : A Eurostar high speed train from Paris to London on the LGV Nord , the North European high speed railway line Photo : Getty
Loyalty is strengthening : Club Eurostar now has 3.96m members .
There is also a relaunched Snap service , offering up to 50 % off journeys for travellers confirming train details just 48 hours before departure .
Sustainable journey Eurostar remains committed to sustainable travel with a pledge to use 100 % renewable energy by 2030 , with all menus now featuring fresh , seasonal ingredients sourced from countries Eurostar travels through .
Eurostar also has a partnership with SkyTeam to offer integrated intermodal journeys combining air and rail travel .
“ We ’ re committed to providing a greener alternative to air travel , making business trips more efficient and environmentally conscious ,” says Inge Bauwens , senior lead Eurostar for Business & MICE .
According to a study by EcoRes SCRL in 2023 , the amount of CO2 in kg emitted per person per journey , London to Paris return was 2.4kg by train and 66kg by plane .
Unsold food from Eurostar Café is donated to waste-reduction company Olio , which redistributes it to local communities around London .
In the UK , food waste is taken to a government-recommended anaerobic digestion facility , where it ’ s processed and used as organic fertiliser on local farmland . Over in France , the food waste is converted into compost at centres run by Les Alchimistes , and then sold at garden centres , supermarkets and DIY stores .
In 2023 , Eurostar was awarded a silver medal by EcoVadis , a sustainability rating platform , for its low environmental impact and procurement practices .
Eurostar ’ s UK operations have been certified to ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 50001:2018 since 2017 and all seems firmly on track to meet the company ’ s net zero 2030 targets . n
ISSUE 135 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / 37