Eurostar passengers value ‘punctuality and reliability’

Eurostar train. Image by Eurostar

Customers care more about punctuality than who owns train companies, a passenger group has said following the Government’s sale of its Eurostar stake.

Passengers on the high-speed London to Paris and Brussels trains will be mainly concerned about the level of service rather than the company running them, said Passenger Focus.

The watchdog’s chief executive Anthony Smith said: “Passengers tell us the name above the door means little to them – but we know that punctuality, reliability and value for money are key.

“Eurostar has lots of leisure passengers that keep coming back, which is always a good sign. What matters now is that passengers continue to experience a good level of service.”

Passenger numbers have grown steadily since Eurostar started running services in 1994 but traffic is still well short of the wildly optimistic prediction, made in 1996, that annual passenger levels would reach more than 21 million by 2004.

The 1996 yearly figure was 4.9 million and the 2004 total, although the highest up to that point, was only 7.27 million.

By last year, annual numbers had reached 10.4 million and the service is now seen by many as the way to travel between London and Paris.

(Press Association)