Eurostar to add new destinations

CHANNEL Tunnel train operator Eurostar says it wants to add around 10 new destinations to its service over the next five years.

At present it serves just Paris, London and Brussels, however it is looking to travel from its St Pancras base to cities such as Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Geneva, Marseille and Lyon, said boss Nicolas Petrovic in the Financial Times.

The operator has become a strong competitor to the air travel market between its current destinations, allowing for faster journey times to city centres. It has an 80% market share between the three cities and almost 10 million passengers a year. It hopes to repeat this success.

Longer-term, the firm is also looking to have a second hub, probably at Brussels.

The plan to increase the offer comes as German operator Deutsche Bahn has announced plans to start offering Channel Tunnel services from late in 2015.

Eurostar is 55% owned by the SNCF (the rest by the UK government and the Belgian state train company).