Highest profit in over a decade for London St Pancras Highspeed
London St Pancras Highspeed, the company which runs the rail line between the capital and the Channel Tunnel, has reported its biggest profit for more than a decade.
The business has achieved a pre-tax profit of £136.6m for the 12 months to 31 March, 2025, new accounts filed with Companies House show.
The total is up from the £101.4m it achieved in the prior 12 months.
The company’s latest pre-tax profit figure is the highest it has achieved since it raked in a huge £573.1m in the year to 31 March, 2013.
That figure was boosted by more than 5,000 additional services which were operated during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Since last posting a pre-tax loss – £72m in 2017 – HS1 has racked up a total profit of more than £585m.
The new accounts for London St Pancras Highspeed also show its revenue dipped in the year from £299.8m to £293.4m.
The company is run by chief executive Robert Sinclair, a former boss of London City Airport, who took over in March last year.
The business has four stations on its line: London St Pancras, Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International.
The network is used by Southeastern services, as well as Eurostar passenger trains and freight trains.
London St Pancras Highspeed ordered to lower its spending by watchdog
The results come after the Office of Rail and Road ordered London St Pancras Highspeed, which used to be known as HS1, in January to lower its spending from April this year.
The 109km high-speed rail line was ordered to bring charges down by 3.8 per cent compared to its latest plans, saving passengers and freight trains as much as £5m a year.
At the time, the watchdog said: “In its response to the draft determination, London St Pancras Highspeed disagreed with the amount of ORR’s proposed reductions in charges.
“The regulator took additional evidence from HS1 and other stakeholders into account, but ultimately determined that the company’s spending plans did not meet its duties for efficient spending.”
In a review of London St Pancras Highspeed’s plans for costs between April 2025 and March 2030, the watchdog found a range of areas in its spending plans where improvements could be made.
As a result, the regulator ordered the rail line to bring down charges for renewals down for £1.9m for the route, and £900,000 for stations, as well as cut £2.3m in charges for operations and maintenance.
The move will bring London St Pancras Highspeed’s total regulated income down by more than 10 per cent compared to what it had been spending previously.
Eurostar reveals expansion plans
Last month, Eurostar outlined proposals to double capacity at London St Pancras as it looks to tap growing demand for international rail travel.
The cross-channel operator penned a preliminary deal with London St Pancras Highspeed aimed at future proofing the popular hub against overcrowding.
A three-part plan includes improving the international area of the station and its connection to the main concourse by 2028, while tightening up security and border control to increase passenger numbers by 2,700 per hour over the next four years.
It comes amid a surge in demand for cross-border rail travel in Europe, with research earlier this year forecasting a tripling of passengers to 35m by 2040.
In June, Eurostar unveiled plans to launch direct services from London to Germany and Switzerland for the first time.
St Pancras’ operational capacity was 1,800 travellers per hour in 2024 but is projected to reach nearly 5,000 after 2028.