Judging by the comments made by Eurostar’s CEO Jacques Damas in an interview with Belgian media, the firm’s London headquarters is to be moved to Brussels.

Lecho.be asked Mr Damas if this decision had anything to do with the UK government’s refusal to provide financial assistance during the pandemic because it is majority owned by France’s SNCF plus other foreign shareholders.

Mr Damas reply was, “The British state helped British companies, only if they were not owned by foreign shareholders.”

“Eurostar will henceforth be a European company but based on the realities of markets and territories.

There was recognition that London would remain important, but expansion would be easier from Brussels

“The UK remains our biggest market,” said Mr Damas, “but Continental expansion will be simpler from Brussels which will become the [Eurostar] focal point.”

Another reason for this decision is that Eurostar and Thalys want to merge.

“The green light is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022” said Mr Damas, “we will build Green Speed [code name for the merger] pragmatically with the holding company based in Brussels.

“The two companies will remain unchanged but there will be a single website for bookings and to simplify the passenger experience.

“Both will retain their individual liveries”

What about Renfe’s plans to break Eurostar’s monopoly on Paris-London?

“If Renfe wants to open this route we’ll play along.  We’re just asking that the [same] rules apply.”

(As readers will know these rules both for the Tunnel and UK Border are onerous)

Mr Damas also criticises the high infrastructure costs which Eurostar must pay even though it’s a much greener form of travel.

Damas gave the example of Amsterdam-London.

“The Amsterdam-London flight time is very low but the energy balance is crazy. Eurostar’s carbon footprint is ten times smaller than air over a similar distance.

“The train is at a disadvantage because of the infrastructure charges [toll fees for high-speed lines and the Tunnel] which alone represent 60% of the charges [cost of train operation].

“In terms of prices we cannot match flights, except to sell at a loss.

“For example, the one-way toll per passenger to use the Tunnel is Euros 16.”

Finally Mr Damas reveals that between March 2020 and June 2021 Eurostar’s average “activity” dropped to five per cent.

“But the objective now is to reach 60 per cent by [this] December.”

However, this quote was made before the current UK government Covid rules on travel and therefore one must doubt that this figure can be achieved.

Eurostar.com