Eurostar tickets sales and passenger numbers reached record levels in 2007, boosted by the launch of High Speed 1 in November.
Tickets sales for the year reached £599 million, up 15.5% on 2006, while traveller numbers reached a record 8.26 million, up 5.1%.
Between November 14 and December 31, Eurostar saw an 11% increase in passengers against the same period in 2006, while international saw ticket sales grew 20%.
The business travel market continued to perform strongly in 2007 with an 11.9% increase in the volume of business ticket sales.
According to Eurostar’s figures released today, the volume of business ticket sales has grown 31.4% since 2005.
Eurostar said 91.5% of its trains arrived on time or early in 2007, compared to 68.8% of flights competing on its routes.
Chief executive Richard Brown said: “We expect to see this growth continue throughout 2008 as the impact of the new through fares from across the UK drives growth in the number of travellers using Eurostar from towns and cities north and south of London.
“The UK is now truly part of Europe’s high-speed rail network and this country can be rightly proud of the huge achievement that the successful launch of High Speed 1 and St Pancras International represents.”
By Bev Fearis
