More passengers for Eurostar

Channel Tunnel high-speed train company Eurostar showed it had recovered from its troubles at the tail end of 2009 by announcing impro­ved passenger numbers for 2010.

The company had to axe all services for three days in December 2009 after a number of snow-affected trains got stuck in the tunnel for hours.

Eurostar said it had carried 9.5 million passengers in 2010 – a three per cent rise on the 2009 figure.

Sales revenue for 2010 rose 12 per cent to £760 million.

Eurostar attributed the passenger growth to the increasing number of people opting for high-speed rail for short-haul European travel and choosing to travel beyond Paris and Brussels to destinations in Holland, Germany and the south of France.