Eurostar: Protect ‘key to our future connectivity’, says Labour peer
Labour life peer Lord Berkeley has joined calls for the government to provide emergency funding for the Eurostar after a crippling collapse in passenger numbers due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Writing in Morning Wire, Lord Berkeley, a well-known figure in the transport industry, said that the cross-Channel rail link was “the key to our future connectivity in a post-Brexit world”.
Passenger numbers of the service have fallen 95 per cent this year, with just two trains a day currently running.
The firm has warned that it is “fighting for survival”, with the HS1 rail link also under threat on account of the lack of demand.
HS1, which links London to the Channel Tunnel, brought in around £2bn to the UK economy last year, but is funded mainly through access charges its pays Eurostar.
“There is a direct link between the two businesses, putting them both at serious risk”, Lord Berkeley wrote.
At a minimum, he added, the sort of support that has been made available to the UK’s airports and rail firms should be extended to the Eurostar.
Earlier this week, it was announced that airports would be in line for £8m in business rates relief due to the impact of the pandemic.
“With continuing restrictions on international travel such as lockdowns and quarantine measures, the impact on the industry is already severe. But in the case of Eurostar and HS1, it is even more acute”, he wrote.
“While domestic rail services and airlines have received funding from specific government schemes, with airports set to receive another financial support package equivalent to their business rates liabilities, high-speed international rail has been forgotten. “At a minimum, existing support must be extended to international rail.”
His comments came after the RMT called for emergency support for the Eurostar yesterday.
In order to guarantee the future of the the rail link, Lord Berkeley added that the government should look to restructure the charges that HS1 pays Eurostar to use the line.
“Charges in the UK are already over three times higher per kilometre than in France, so there has to be a way forward — if only on a temporary basis — to stop these businesses from going under”.
Lord Berkeley added that the rail link was also crucial for the government’s green ambitions.
“The recently unveiled environmental plan puts huge emphasis on the UK’s commitment to meeting ambitious climate change targets.
“A journey by rail uses at least 80 per cent less emissions per route than the equivalent flight, and just last month we hailed the achievements of HS1 in becoming the first train line in the UK to run entirely on renewable energy”, he said.