The French Govt attempts to save Eurostar

The French government is ready to help train driver Eurostar, transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said on Thursday.

The firm, whose services join France and the UK, but also run to Belgium and the Netherlands, has been left in dire financial straits due to Brexit and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on travel.

“The state will be present beside Eurostar in order to have this strategic link in our two countries,” Djebbari announced at a parliamentary hearing.

“We are in the method of working with the British on aid mechanisms for Eurostar proportionate to the responsibility of each party, so as to ensure the financial sustainability of the company’s business model,” he added.

Djebbari said that he and his British equivalent, Grant Shapps, had been discussing the matter “for many weeks”.

Eurostar has warned it faces bankruptcy at the end of spring if the British and French governments did not come to its rescue.
Jean-Pierre Farandou, the CEO of SNCF, France’s state railway company, which owns 55% of Eurostar, told France Inter radio on Tuesday that “the situation is very critical for Eurostar”.

Passenger products on the cross-channel train service have been down 95% since March and are currently believed to be less than 1% of pre-pandemic levels.

It comes days after UK business leaders called for a British government rescue of Eurostar.

The company has asked for entrance to the same secured loans as airlines, and a temporary reduction on track access charges it pays to use the UK’s only stretch of the high-speed rail line.

While the company is majority-owned by a French public organization and is therefore seen in the UK as French, many across the channel consider it British as it is based in London, which in turn has meant it hasn’t received any direct aid or loans from either state.