According to the Financial Times, the UK government continues to oppose support for the ailing Eurostar high-speed link. According to reports in the magazine Passenger Transport Magazine in January, the company turned to London for support, but ministers in London think that first the shareholders - of which the French SNCF is the largest with 55%, and therefore the French government - only a large sum of money. in the bag to save the train connection between London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.
In 2015 the UK government sold its share of Eurostar; in addition to SNCF, the Belgian railways have a 5% share. Other shareholders, including Hermes Infrastructure and the Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, have already invested more than € 200 million during the corona crisis.
As passenger numbers fell sharply due to Brexit and the corona crisis, the previously very popular Eurostar has ended up in an extremely dire situation. In January this year, the company indicated that passenger numbers had fallen by 2020% between March 2020 and early 95. The British government assumes that in the event of Eurostar bankruptcy, another operator will stand up to set up a new service with the rolling stock and via the Channel Tunnel. According to the British business newspaper, there is no enthusiasm to save the company. That would mean rebuilding the current quality of Eurostar connections from scratch - a process that took Eurostar years to come.
According to a senior French official, a solution for Eurostar should have been found this summer and France still expects - in addition to the other shareholders - the United Kingdom to step in, although - according to well-informed sources - there is no contact at a high political level yet. has been between countries.
