Alarm raised over the future of Eurostar

The head of France’s state rail company has sounded the alarm over the futureof Eurostar.

The cross-Channel train service has been hit badly by a lack oftravel during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the impact of Brexit.Passenger numbers on the service have been down by 95% since March and arecurrently believed to be less than 1% of pre-pandemic levels.

The warningcomes days after UK business leaders called for a Government rescue of theoperator as border closures enforced to stop the spread of the new Covid-19variant threaten to push the service towards the brink of collapse.