Eurostar trains carrying 30% fewer passengers

The brag of Eurostar has said its trains betwixt the UK and Paris are carrying 30% less passengers due to the fact that of post-Brexit borderline checks.

Chief enforcement Gwendoline Cazenave, said "bottlenecks" successful stations were besides caused by staffing shortages.

Eurostar is presently moving 14 services per time betwixt London and Paris, compared with 18 successful 2019.

Ms Cazenave said the institution mightiness not reconstruct immoderate services suspended past twelvemonth owed to the problems.

"The happening is present we are not capable to tally the aforesaid transport connection arsenic what we had earlier successful 2019, due to the fact that of bottlenecks successful stations," she said.

"We person a main contented successful Eurostar terminals due to the fact that of the caller boarding conditions betwixt the UK and EU, due to the fact that of the interaction of Covid, due to the fact that of unit successful the stations."

Last year, Eurostar announced it was halting its nonstop work from London to Disneyland Paris and besides stopped services calling astatine Ebbsfleet oregon Ashford International stations.

It cited reasons which included fiscal problems owed to losses suffered during the tallness of the pandemic and post-Brexit borderline checks - with much clip needed to stamp UK passengers' passports

Asked if the services would beryllium reinstated successful the future, Ms Cazenave said: "We'll see, it depends connected the mode we tin grip the large stations' issues."

She said the company's "objective" was to "be this backbone betwixt large cities", specified arsenic London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels.

"These are the main cities, these are the main markets.... we are moving for, which is our main relation I would say," she said.

Currently, UK passengers travelling to the EU request their passport stamped erstwhile they transverse the border, which has caused delays.

An Entry/Exit System, oregon EES, volition regenerate the checks, but the exertion has been delayed respective times and is present owed to beryllium implemented astatine the extremity of 2023.

But concerns person been raised that archetypal registration for the strategy could origin delays to Eurostar services and pb to queues astatine the Port of Dover, arsenic nether the strategy radical entering the bloc from non-EU countries - including the UK - volition request to registry fingerprints and a photograph with their passport details.

Once travellers person fixed their fingerprints and details, that registration volition beryllium valid for 3 years. During that clip it indispensable beryllium validated each clip idiosyncratic crosses the border.

Ms Cazenave told the BBC Eurostar was "pushing" for the strategy to beryllium wholly digital, meaning radical could registry details astatine location earlier they question and it would "not beryllium a atrocious lawsuit experience".

"We cognize it's a large deal, we cognize it's a truly large challenge," she said.

The Eurostar brag said the strategy would inactive enactment without "digitisation", but added it would request "a batch of investment, anticipation and staff.

On Tuesday, Eurostar announced its caller marque which progressive a merger betwixt Thalys and Eurostar and said it hopes to transportation 30 cardinal passengers a twelvemonth by 2030.