More than one million travellers used the Channel tunnel last month as passengers shrugged off concerns about migrant chaos in France to take Eurostar journey numbers to a record.
Eurostar said a 5.1 per cent year-on-year rise in passenger had made July its best month ever, with 1.02 million people travelling on its trains to the Continent even as services were hit as migrants broke into the undersea tunnel in desperate attempts to reach the UK.
The August bank holiday weekend is predicted to see more than 148,000 passengers travel on Eurostar, based on booking numbers released by the company yesterday.
Nicolas Petrovic, chief executive of Eurostar, said the rise in passengers was unlike anything the company had witnessed before and was driven by a combination of new routes offering services direct to the South of France, as well as cheaper fares. This Friday alone, more than 38,000 people are expected to travel from the UK on Channel tunnel trains.
Since being introduced in May, more than 100,000 people have booked trips to the French cities of Lyon, Avignon and Marseille, with one-way fares from as little as £40 for a standard-class seat or £85 for a standard premier ticket.
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“We have seen unprecedented demand over the summer months as customers are taking advantage of our frequent services and new routes,” said Mr Petrovic.
The rise in passenger numbers has come against a backdrop of increasingly audacious attempts by migrants attempting to break into UK-bound trains, even walking through the tunnel itself to reach Britain. On Monday passenger services were delayed by what was described as an “incident in the tunnel” that led to one of the routes being shut.
Eurostar services have been running between the UK and the Continent for more than two decades with the company’s 28-train fleet carrying more than 150 million passengers since its launch in 1994.
At present, the company is in the process of upgrading its high-speed trains, which can carry 750 passengers at a speed of 300kph, with new trains capable of accommodating 900 people and travelling at 320kph.
Mr Petrovic said the new rolling stock would “transform the travel experience” for passengers as Eurostar ratchets up its battle against the short-haul airlines that represent its biggest competition.
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Eurostar trains leave the St Pancras Internationl terminus in London 16 times a day, rising to 18 on Fridays.