Eurotunnel’s Le Shuttle passenger service through the Channel Tunnel achieved its best traffic levels last year since 2000.
The company today reported that more than 2.66 million passenger vehicles were transported in 2016, a 2% rise year-on-year.
Total revenues from Le Shuttle services – including freight – increased by 10% to €602.7 million last year over 2015.
“This is a remarkable performance in the difficult context following the terrorist attacks which led to a reduction in tourism in France,” Eurotunnel said.
“The Le Shuttle car market share grew to 55% in 2016. The trend in the last quarter was positive with 6% additional traffic.”
But Eurotunnel’s annual railway network revenue fell by 3% due to a reduction in Eurostar traffic blamed on the terrorist attacks in Belgium in March and Nice in July.
Eurostar carryings through the Channel Tunnel dropped by 4% to 10 million passengers, despite a “significant improvement” towards the end of the year.
“Although Eurostar traffic was down for 2016 as a whole, it is interesting to note that the trend was reversed in the final quarter with a growth of 2%, supported by a record month in December,” Eurotunnel said.
“The upturn of traffic at the end of the year, the good figures for the 2016 Christmas period and the upcoming launch of Eurostar London-Amsterdam services all augur well for growth of this traffic through the Channel Tunnel.”
Overall Eurotunnel revenues for 2016 rose by 4% to €1.023 billion.