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