eurostar needs dosh

Calls are increasing for the UK taxpayer to help rescue the Channel Tunnel train operator Eurostar. But on what basis?

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Eurostar wants UK taxpayer bail-out!

According to reports, Eurostar is haemorrhaging money after passenger numbers plummeted due to the pandemic and needs UK taxpayer cash to keep it afloat.

But, as I'll come on to, the UK taxpayer doesn't have an interest in Eurostar.

Writing in the Independent, Simon Calder says:

"In a normal year, Eurostar would be expected to carry more than 30,000 passengers a day on average; sell tickets worth £1bn annually; and make around £100m in profit.

"But trains through the Channel Tunnel from London have been reduced to a single trip to Paris and another to Brussels and Amsterdam, with a typical daily total of 200 to 300 travellers."

And it's not just Eurostar. As you can see from this graph compiled using data from Road and Rail, the quarterly drop in rail passenger journeys in Great Britain was vast. Going from circa 400 million or more a quarter to 35 million overnight.

So Eurostar has enormous costs and zero income to cover them.

As a result, the Eurostar chief executive, Jacques Damas, sent the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, a begging letter last November.

And now, according to Sky News:

"Pressure is mounting on the UK and French governments to agree financial aid for Eurostar, the cross-Channel rail operator, as it fights for survival."

And it went on to say that:

"A campaign for financial aid gathered pace in the UK this week when a letter, backed by businesses, was sent to the Treasury and Department for Transport (DfT) urging them not to threaten the UK's economic recovery and post-Brexit future by letting Eurostar "fall between the cracks of support"."

And the chair of the Transport Select Committee, Tory MP Huw Merriman, said:

"We simply cannot afford to lose Eurostar to this pandemic. The company contributes £800 million each year to the UK economy. It is unique in offering an environmentally friendly, direct, connection to mainland Europe. Trips from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam on the Eurostar emit between 80-90 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions per passenger than the equivalent short-haul flights.

"Like airlines, quarantine and travel restrictions have blighted Eurostar's access to its markets during the pandemic. Unlike airlines, Eurostar has been shut out from government loans that have offered a lifeline.

"Eurostar's traffic has fallen by over 95 per cent; services have been stripped back to a bare minimum. It needs a joint, bespoke UK-French solution to help it through this crisis."

But why should the UK taxpayer be expected to bail-out a company in which it has no interest? The UK does not own any part of Eurostar.

The Dutch Review reports that:

"Eurostar is a private company, so they don't receive aid from the government, leaving them in "very critical condition," according to Cristophe Fanichet, CEO of French rail company SNCF (co-manager of Eurostar). Without government assistance, by April, the train company will no longer be able to meet its payment obligations.

"But the company's appeal for government aid doesn't look promising. "This is a French company in England, so the British are not helping, and the French are not helping because it is in England," Fanichett told reporters."

So, even the French government appears to be unwilling to help.

Just for completeness, this is how the operation works according to Eurostar:

"The Channel Tunnel (often called the 'Chunnel' for short) is an undersea tunnel linking southern England and northern France. It is operated by the company Getlink, who also run a railway shuttle (Le Shuttle) between Folkestone and Calais, carrying passengers in cars, vans and other vehicles.

Now, Eurostar commenced operations under the ownership of the French national rail operator SNCF, the Belgian state rail operator SNCB and British Rail.

But the UK government divested itself of its 40% share in the concern and sold it to a two-company consortium. 10% of Eurostar held by a UK based company called Hermes Infrastructure and 30% held by a Canadian firm, Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (CDPQ).

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#Eurostar

#ChannelTunnel

#FixedLink

Видео eurostar needs dosh канала Jeff Taylor