No one could have foreseen the disastrously wet end to 2023, which resulted in the flooding of a rail tunnel outside London, forcing Eurostar to cancel urban and intercity services on December 30, affecting an estimated 30,000 passengers. The train operator had already been shaken by a last-minute strike by French Eurotunnel workers on 21 December; This led to pre-Christmas travel chaos as passengers struggled to get home for the festivities.
The French newspaper was Le Figaro It has been hailed as a “nightmarish end to the year” for Eurostar, which appears to be finally getting back on its feet after the double whammy of Brexit and the pandemic. Following an emergency refinancing deal in 2021, the company’s merger with European operator Thalys in 2023 offered a glimmer of hope. “As Eurostar Group, we will be more resilient to external shocks in the future,” a spokesperson told The Telegraph at the time.
Although the new Eurostar Group reaches more destinations than a year ago, for UK customers reaching these destinations requires a change to Lille, Paris or Brussels. Meanwhile, direct services to Disneyland Paris, along with stops at Ebbsfleet and Ashford International, have also been removed from the schedule indefinitely. Will 2024, Eurostar’s 30th anniversary, bring more good news for British customers?
“Eurostar services will not stop at Ebbsfleet or Ashford International or go directly to Disney in 2024 and we cannot make any commitments for 2025,” a representative told The Telegraph. “While we are close to getting back on track with 11 million passengers traveling with us on our cross-Channel routes in 2023, we will continue to face the financial consequences of the pandemic for several more years. Borders have also become more complex and the anticipated launch of the EU’s Entry/Exit System calls for caution. “We remain focused on our key routes where demand is highest and on stabilizing our business, operations and customer experience.”
predicting ETIAS
Given the problems already caused by post-Brexit border controls, rail expert Mark Smith of The Man in Seat Sixty-One believes the brand is right to be cautious about Europe’s new regulations for third-party nationals. 2024. “There are still some busy trains leaving with empty seats at St Pancras because they can’t process everything,” he said. “The ETIAS travel authorization scheme and the Entry/Exit System will potentially disrupt everything again”.
Eurostar says it is preparing for the changes by investing in improved e-gates for Paris and London, as well as adding a new manual control booth and e-gates in Brussels. It also hopes to expand the use of Smartcheck, which allows customers to register their passports before arriving at the station to use facial recognition to speed up border controls.
On the right track?
One of the operator’s recent success stories was the launch of a direct route between London and Amsterdam in 2020. However, one leg of the route will pause for six months from June 2024 because construction work to improve Amsterdam Centraal station means it will not be there. Sufficient space to facilitate security checks for British passengers returning to the UK. While this is a frustrating stoppage, Eurostar hopes to increase train frequency once the work is done.
The company relaunched another popular service at the end of 2023. The much-loved ski train to the French Alps was canceled in 2020 and the route was handed over to tour operator Travelski, which hired the train so British skiers could hit the slopes. By rail between December and April.
Eurostar has reinstated the route for the 2023/24 season with a service to five Alpine stations that will run until the beginning of February. But unlike Travelski’s option (and Eurostar’s original service), Eurostar Snow includes a change in Lille for passengers and all ski equipment. Even more frustrating, anyone planning a ski trip after February 4 will need to book two separate train tickets and make the short trip from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon for the onward journey from Paris.
“[The initial closure] “It affected their resort in the French Alps because this was their livelihood, so they rented a ski train,” Smith said. “But Eurostar didn’t want to play with that anymore, so now we have this Eurostar/Thalys hybrid. “This is a great shame.”
Another of the group’s new routes (albeit with more changes) will delight people even more in 2024. England football fans will be able to go to the Euro 2024 matches by train, thanks to the service to be offered to Cologne and Düsseldorf via Brussels. Eurostar is also the official travel partner of the British Olympic Association and hopes to transport 1.7 million fans to the Games via its Paris routes.
As it has no rivals on the London-Paris service, Eurostar is expected to maximize its profits throughout the tournament, but this may change in the future. New operator Evolyn hopes to commission trains between London and Paris Nord as early as 2025, but experts believe this is an optimistic target.
While Sir Richard Branson also has his eye on the route, Railtech reported that the newly established Dutch company Heuro wants to offer a service running 15 trains a day between London and Amsterdam by 2028.
“This is madness,” says Jerry Alderson, director of campaign organization Rail Future. “Even after 20 years, they will not be able to reach this number. “The biggest problem is that St Pancras doesn’t have capacity.”
Pay is fair
If installation issues are resolved, Eurostar may need customer loyalty and affordable prices to retain passengers in the face of competition; therefore, it would be wise to focus on a few issues in the meantime. The operator was recently in trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority after a £39 summer tariff deal led to customer complaints over a lack of available seats.
While none of the festive season disruptions were Eurostar’s fault, passengers took to social media to complain about the lack of customer service in the aftermath. A representative defended the brand: “On both days when external factors caused a very challenging situation, customers were given the option to change their tickets or receive a refund. Hotel and taxi compensation support was provided to those who were stranded. Extra services were also organized in the days following the events.”
However, the Rev. Dr., whose train to Brussels was canceled on December 30th. Rob Marshall was saddened to see families and elderly passengers stranded in the “severely overcrowded” St Pancras.
“For too many Eurostar passengers, London is not the start of the journey,” he said. “A huge amount of time and money had been spent at St Pancras arranging to arrive on time for the relevant trains (travel to London and travel to hotels for early departures) and Eurostar is treating them as ‘local passengers’ who must return. On another day. Most cannot do this. “While the flood was not Eurostar’s fault, it was appalling that any communications strategy in terms of proactive information and empathy failed completely.”