With passenger growth building at a phenomenal rate since the opening of St Pancras International, Eurostar is now looking at ways of developing European rail ‘hubs’ to enable people to reach new and wider destinations.
Demand is growing for easier connections and more through-fares from UK towns and cities which have been more effectively plugged into the European rail network since the opening last November of what has become an iconic station.
Eurostar chief Richard Brown spoke to Railnews editor Paul Whiting about the potential and the problems, and how his sights are set on bringing more of the continent within easy reach.

The overnight move of Eurostar from Waterloo International to St Pancras International instantly eased access to international journeys for passengers, particularly from the big cities of the Midlands and the North.

And it is those passengers who have provided Eurostar with its biggest growth in traveller numbers – up to an 18.3 per cent increase – for core route services between Lon-don, Paris, Brussels and Lille.

But, as part of the Railteam consortium working to make other European destinations more accessible, Eurostar UK Ltd chief executive Richard Brown is well aware that future ways of growing the business – a two million passengers a year growth by 2010 is the current target – must include better connectivity into other European services from the two main ‘hubs’, Brussels and Lille.

He says: “Amsterdam is a big attraction and when the Dutch high-speed line opens it will be only four hours from London. But there are problems for us. The new line will be operated under ERTMS – the new signalling and train control system – and our Eurostar trains are not equipped for that.

“To make matters more complicated, for 20 kilometres through Rotterdam there is a different system and differences in the electrical systems.  There would have to be some expensive modifications to our trains.

“But there is huge scope in improving connections at our main hubs of Brussels and Lille. Railteam is working to develop other new destinations for us in Holland and into Western Germany, with improved connections and through-fares, which have become very popular.

“Passengers in Derby or Nottingham could one day book through-fares to places such as Cologne and Frankfurt in Germany.

“Airlines have been booking through-fares for years but often there is a four or five hour wait with their connections. We need to offer better connections than that.”
Currently, Paris is less of a hub city for Eurostar, but with moves for a high-speed line from Spain into France gathering ground, this could all change.

“The big challenge for Railteam is to come up with a web-based booking and ticketing system offering a one stop shop for passengers wanting to book from the UK to other destinations in Europe.”

Richard knows that once the technicalities are sorted out, passenger growth from Derby, Nottingham, York and Sheffield – all cities providing well over 100 per cent passenger growth for Eurostar in the past nine months – could accelerate even more.
Meanwhile, Eurostar is continuing to eat away at the short-haul European airlines share of the market.

Five years ago, on the Brussels route, Eurostar had 40 per cent market share. This now stands at 70 per cent. In March this year Ryanair pulled out of its Stansted route to Charleroi airport near Brussels. Bmi is already out of the Paris market and has been using slots gained at Heathrow for more profitable flights.

The French national airline Air France cut frequencies between London and Paris from 12 to seven a day in February this year.

“We are having a significant impact on the airlines, with people turning to Euro-star not just because the trains are more reliable, but because the whole journey experience is more attractive,” says Richard. “Our trains are more comfortable, there is more leg room and you can work uninterrupted. You can also walk around and have a nice meal.

“There are so many reasons for switching to Eurostar and I think environmental considerations come into this too. People’s environmental concerns are growing, they are more concerned about their carbon footprint.

“There is also a lot of inertia in the travel market, with habit playing a big part and it takes quite a lot to change those habits. But when we win new passengers, we hold on to them.”

Richard says Eurostar is ‘on course’ if not ahead, of its 2010 target of two million more passengers a year and believes there are a number of reasons for this, not least the superbly renovated St Pancras International station itself.

“This is a station which has really caught the national imagination. People are proud of it and what Britain has achieved in the refurbishment of this great station. People aspire to come to see it.”

In addition to accommodating East Midlands Trains with services to the Midlands and the North, and First Capital Connect services, St Pancras has King’s Cross main line station right next door, bringing in potential Eurostar passengers from the North East and Scotland.

“St Pancras is much more accessible to the majority of people.,” says Richard. “It has six Underground lines and there are faster overall journey times for people changing off trains from other UK cities and towns to join trains to Paris and Brussels.”

The number of day trips to Brussels has doubled since last November, with Eurostar passengers able to get into the city before 8am in the morning.

“With passengers able to get into Paris before 9am, leisure travellers can have a full day in the cities while business travellers can have a full day’s work,” says Richard.

“People no longer have to get up early to flog their way into an airport and the journey time, reliability and punctuality, especially for business travellers, is a big factor.”

Brand awareness is also playing a key role in Eurostar passenger growth. “When we needed to get across information about the move from Waterloo International, and to get across the benefits of the move, new services and all of that, we got 95 per cent awareness across the country. That’s pretty good.”

On the Brussels route, an 11th daily service will be introduced in December this year. And the number of trains a day to Paris from London continues to grow.  In spring last year, 14 trains a day sped between the two cities, using part classic lines and part high-speed line.

In the summer of 2007 the figure was increased to 15 and in November 2007 – launch month using the new HS1 – 16 trains a day were introduced. In February this year the number was increased to 17 and this month the number reaches 18 a day, Mondays to Thursdays. On Fridays there will be 20 trains to cater for between 90 to 95 per cent loadings, with the biggest passenger flows being on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings out of London and Sunday evenings and Monday mornings out of Paris.
Even on the first daily Eurostar to Paris – the 05.23 – there is usually a loading of 400 people, filling more than 50 per cent of a train that has 766 seats.

Passenger classifications range from business travellers returning, to French expats living in London going home and UK residents going on short breaks.

By far the most popular time to travel is mid-morning from London – many passengers are arriving from the Midlands and North of the UK at that time – and attractive fares are offered through revenue management.

“With our offers – we still offer a £59 standard return lead-in fare – we are helping people shop around to find trains available at the times they wish to travel, and at the price they want to pay.”

The 18th daily train to Paris being introduced this month will also have a mid-morning departure time.

“There is no firm timescale for introducing another train but we will put on 19 or 20 as demand grows. This can be done by reducing down time at the depot – Temple Mills, our engineering centre, is doing very well – and ‘sweating the assets’, as they say.”

Other Inter-Capital sets currently working in France and Belgium could be returned to the Eurostar brand, but Richard thinks this unlikely for another three to four years.
On the environmental front, the company’s Tread Lightly carbon neutral campaign to reduce carbon emissions is seeing project work in India, China, East Africa and the Phillipines help offset Euro-star emissions.

And on the home front, a number of initiatives are under way to reduce each carbon neutral passenger journey by 25 per cent by 2012.

The 10-part plan includes recycling of waste such as paper from trains – although this is not straightforward and there are costs involved in the segregation of materials for recycling.

At Eurostar’s new head office in a new development near to St Pancras Inter-national, staff have been called upon to cut 17 per cent in paper usage and to save energy by turning off lights.

Richard, who is also president of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (UK) this year, is making his very own contribution by cutting his own personal carbon footprint. He’s using his bike and cycling between his office and London flat.

“I haven’t used the Tube for three weeks,” he says proudly. “And the cycling is keeping me fit.”

- For information and travel advice on Eurostar destinations please see the Travel section on the Railnews website.