Brexit has slashed Eurostar capacity by third, says CEO

The extra passport checks the UK requested after leaving the EU are "not sustainable": that is the damning view of Jacques Damas, outgoing chief executive of Eurostar.

- SIMON CALDER

The boss of the cross-Channel train operator revealed that post-Brexit border arrangements have reduced capacity on links from London to Brussels and Paris by one-third forcing Eurostar to charge higher prices to our customers”.

Earlier this month Huw Merriman, chair of the transport select committee, wrote to Eurostar expressing concern about the impact of the continued closure of Ebbsfleet and Ashford international stations in Kent. Trains for Brussels and Paris ended their calls there as the coronavirus pandemic began. They will not open until 2025 at the earliest. Eurostar is also ditching direct trains to Disneyland Paris in June 2023.

In his response to the parliamentary committee, Mr Damas spelt out in devastating detail the damage caused by Brexit to international rail travel to and from the UK. His letter, which Mr Merriman has published, begins: "I fully appreciate the disappointment felt by many at the continued closure of the Kent stations and, indeed, the recent announcements regarding Disneyland Paris s - a popular destination for many of our British customers, including those previously from Ashford.