First-class boost for Eurostar

THE RETURN of the business class passenger as City people and bankers again shuttle between the financial centres of London, Paris and Brussels is continuing to fire growth at Eurostar.

And the number of laptop-using, power-breakfasting suits will also see what the Waterloo-based train operator is calling its reinvention of first-class travel.

It is segregating those who wish to work on the train from highfarepaying leisure passengers who simply want the premium experience.

In the first three months of 2005, Eurostar hit new records in passenger numbers, up 5.5% to 1.695m, and in sales, 10% better at £116m. That compares with the 15% growth in 2004 to 7.2m passengers and £433m of revenues in the tenth year of the business's existence and the first year that it began to fight back after its post-millennium slump.

Buoyed by the completion last autumn of the high-speed link through Kent, Eurostar has been given a significant shunt by the return of the business passengers taking the train rather than the plane.

'Eurostar is becoming the shorthaul carrier of choice for millions of European who prefer seamless, less stressful travel,' said Eurostar director Paul Charles. By the end of this summer Eurostar will unveil a further attempt to woo business passenger by reconfiguring its first class.

{1}Those who want to work on the train will be put into separate compartments from other first class passengers, and will be given access to power points and served breakfast within 20 minutes rather than the leisurely hour that is the norm in the premium class carriage.

'It is what our passengers are telling us they want in our research,' said Charles.

'It is is unique and comes at a time when the likes of British Airways and bmi are talking about removing first class seats on such short-haul routes. We think what we are doing will become the trend and that other carriers will be following us two or three years down the line.'

The move comes as Eurostar is claiming 50% of the business market on both the Paris and Brussels routes. It claims it is taking passengers away from the likes of easyJet and Belgian airline VLM, which have been offering the cheapest alternatives on these routes.

However, Eurostar's punctuality in the quarter fell sharply, down to 83% from 89% last year and well short of the company's 90% target.

Charles blamed the poor weather, saying: 'It is not a figure we are proud of, but it is a blip.'