Brexit has cut Eurostar capacity by 30 per cent, says chief executive

The extra passport checks the UK requested after leaving the EU are “not sustainable”: that is the damning view of Jacques Damas, outgoing chief executive of Eurostar.

The boss of the cross-Channel train operator revealed that post-Brexit border arrangements have reduced capacity on links from London to Brussels and Paris by one-third – forcing Eurostar “to charge higher prices to our customers”.

Earlier this month Huw Merriman, chair of the Transport Select Committee, wrote to Eurostar expressing concern about the impact of the continued closure of Ebbsfleet and Ashford international stations in Kent. Trains for Brussels and Paris ended their calls there as the coronavirus pandemic began.

They will not open until 2025 at the earliest. Eurostar is also ditching direct trains to Disneyland Paris in June 2023.

In his response to the parliamentary committee, Mr Damas spelt out in devastating detail the damage caused by Brexit to international rail travel to and from the UK.

His letter, which Mr Merriman has published, begins: “I fully appreciate the disappointment felt by many at the continued closure of the Kent stations and, indeed, the recent announcements regarding Disneyland Paris – a popular destination for many of our British customers, including those previously from Ashford.

“I also appreciate the economic impact of such a decision on the South East and the loss of choice for individual travellers. I can understand that people contrast these decisions with the recovery in travel this year and question why we have not moved to re-open the stations.”

While financial constraints and engineering issues were partly responsible, Mr Damas explained that Brexit has cut Eurostar capacity by 30 per cent – simply because the new passport requirements take time and require more space.

“Additional border checks apply to UK citizens seeking to enter Schengen, as they do to all ‘third country nationals’. Since around 40 per cent of our customers are UK nationals, this has resulted in a significant increase in the processing times at stations.

“The stamping of British passports by Continental police adds at least 15 seconds to individual passengers’ border crossing times.

“Even with all booths manned, St Pancras can currently process a maximum 1,500 passengers per hour versus 2,200 in 2019.

“It is only the fact that Eurostar has capacity-limited trains and significantly reduced its timetable from 2019 levels, that we are not seeing daily…