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Eurostar International Limited

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Eurostar International Limited (EIL) is the railway company operating the international Eurostar train services between Paris, London, Amsterdam and Brussels via the Channel Tunnel. Eurostar was previously operated by three separate companies in Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, but this structure was replaced by EIL as a new single management company on 1 September 2010. EIL is owned by Eurostar Group.[3]

Eurostar International Limited
Company typeLimited company
IndustryRail Transport
Founded1990
HeadquartersLondon, England
Key people
Gwendoline Cazenave (CEO)[1]
ProductsRail Transport
RevenueIncrease £880 million (2017)[2]
Increase £57.6 million (2017)[2]
OwnersEurostar Group
SubsidiariesEurostar

Eurostar International is the largest customer of Getlink, the owner of the Channel Tunnel.

History

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Class 373 sets at London Waterloo in May 2005

Eurostar International was formed in 1990 as European Passenger Services (EPS),[4] as the division of British Rail responsible for the UK section of the Eurostar operation. Following the opening of the Channel Tunnel, Eurostar trains began operating on 14 November 1994,[5] with EPS, NMBS/SNCB and SNCF responsible for the running of Eurostar services in their own territory.

On 1 April 1994, EPS signed a fixed-rate track access contract with Railtrack lasting until 29 July 2052 as part of the plans for Regional Eurostar services.[6]

The privatisation of British Rail saw ownership of EPS transferred in 1996 to London and Continental Railways (LCR), a property development company owned by the Government of the United Kingdom. This was part of the contract agreed with the British Government for LCR to build and operate High Speed 1 (HS1) between London and the Channel Tunnel. The company was renamed Eurostar (UK) Limited[4] (EUKL) and was to use the income from EUKL to help finance the HS1 project.

Following financial assistance from the UK government in 1998, LCR was forced to appoint a management contract for EUKL. Bids for the contract were submitted by Virgin Rail Group and Inter-Capital and Regional Rail, a consortium of National Express (40%), SNCF (35%), NMBS/SNCB (15%) and British Airways (10%). The latter was awarded the contract which was to run from 1998 until 2010.[7]

In January 2009, after the completion of HS1, the UK's Department for Transport took control of LCR and announced its intention to put both HS1 and EUKL up for sale. Deutsche Bahn expressed an interest in EUKL but no sale materialised.[8]

On 31 December 2009, EUKL was renamed Eurostar International Limited (EIL).[4] On 1 September 2010, the three national Eurostar operators merged into EIL as a single company with a single management structure. Following this change, the ICRR management contract for the UK business was terminated.[9] Once all Eurostar assets were transferred to EIL, the holdings in the company were amended to LCR (40%), NMBS/SNCB (5%) and SNCF (55%).[10][11]

In November 2010, LCR sold a 30-year concession to operate HS1 to a Canadian consortium of Borealis Infrastructure and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan for £2.1bn.[12][13] EIL then paid access charges to the consortium to operate Eurostar trains on HS1.

On 4 December 2013, the UK Government announced it was looking to sell LCR's 40% stake in EIL.[14][15]

In January 2014, in a joint venture with Keolis, Eurostar was shortlisted to bid for the InterCity East Coast franchise,[16][17] but the franchise was awarded to Virgin Trains East Coast.[18]

In June 2014, the UK's 40% shareholding in EIL was transferred from LCR to HM Treasury,[19] and a sale process was launched on 13 October 2014 when it was announced that the UK government planned to raise £300 million by selling its stake.[20] In March 2015, the Treasury announced it had sold the stake to Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) (30%) and Hermes Infrastructure (10%) for £585m. It also confirmed agreement to redeem its preference share in EIL for £172m, raising £757m in total.[21] The sale was completed in May 2015.[22]

In 2020, Eurostar shareholders unanimously appointed Jacques Damas as chief executive officer, following news that previous CEO Mike Cooper would join Arriva as Group CEO, and facing the challenges of exiting the COVID-19 crisis and leading it towards future developments.[23]

In April 2022, Eurostar International's ownership was transferred into a new holding company named Eurostar Group, along with THI Factory. The previous shareholders now own a part of the new holding company.[3]

Fleet

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EIL is the owner of the British Rail Class 373 and Class 374 sets.

References

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  1. ^ Eurostar management team eurostar.com
  2. ^ a b "Eurostar reports a £58m profit". Railwaygazette. 28 February 2018. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  3. ^ a b Dharma, Ranjithkumar (2 May 2022). "Eurostar, Thalys merge to bring more high-speed rail routes to Europe". Railway Technology. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "European Passenger Services Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  5. ^ "In pictures: Eurostar celebrates 25 years of service". BBC News. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  6. ^ Winsor, Thomas P (6 March 2003). Judgement (PDF). Network Rail Infrastructure Limited -v- Eurostar (UK) Limited (Report). Office of Rail Regulation. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  7. ^ "Eurostar restructure sees UK expand rail stake". Archived from the original on 23 October 2013.
  8. ^ "Deutsche Bahn says interested in Eurostar stake". Reuters. 14 January 2009.
  9. ^ "Annual Report and Accounts 2010". National Express Group plc. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013.
  10. ^ "Behind the Scenes". Eurostar. Archived from the original on 31 August 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  11. ^ Eurostar restructuring completed Railway Gazette International 2 September 2010
  12. ^ "HS1 Sale Completion" (PDF). London & Continental Railway. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2011.
  13. ^ "High Speed 1 concession awarded to Canadian pension consortium". Railway Gazette International. 5 November 2010.
  14. ^ Eurostar: Government's 40% Stake Up For Sale Sky News 4 December 2013
  15. ^ UK government contemplates sale of LCR assets & Eurostar stake Railway Gazette International 4 December 2013
  16. ^ "East Coast rail shortlist revealed". BBC News. 17 January 2014.
  17. ^ InterCity East Coast franchise shortlist announced Archived 20 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine Railway Gazette International 17 January 2014
  18. ^ "Stagecoach and Virgin win East Coast mainline rail franchise". BBC News. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  19. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Ministerial Statements for 19 June 2014 (pt 0001)". UK Parliament. House of Commons. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  20. ^ "Eurostar rail stake touted for sale by UK government". BBC News. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  21. ^ "UK government has reached agreement for the sale of its entire interest in Eurostar International Limited ("Eurostar") for £757.1m". GOV.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  22. ^ "Behind the scenes". Brussels: Eurostar Group.
  23. ^ "Jacques Damas appointed Chief Executive Officer of Eurostar". 8 September 2020. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
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