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Eurostar reports encouraging start to 2013

Eurostar saw sales revenue rise by a marginal 1% to £213 million in the first quarter of the year.

Passenger numbers were down to 2.23 million from 2.24 million in the same three months in 2012.

Non-EU originated sales revenues grew 10% while passenger numbers increased by 8% compared to the same period in 2012.

Business travel continues to be affected by the ongoing economic uncertainty throughout Europe as many organisations maintain a close eye on corporate travel budgets, the high speed rail operator said.

“However, in spite of an extended period of unseasonably cold and wintry weather, the continuing resilience of Eurostar’s leisure travel market has helped deliver the solid performance,” Eurostar said.

Chief executive Nicolas Petrovic said: “This is an encouraging start to the year in spite of the challenges posed by both the economy and the weather.

“Our sales revenues have grown during a quarter which saw heavy snowfalls and some of the coldest temperatures on record in the south of England and northern France.

“This quarter’s performance is testament to our enduring popularity with regular and first time travellers alike.”

The introduction of a new website which simplifies and speeds up the booking process has reduced the average amount of time taken to book a ticket by more than 40% from eight minutes to four and a half minutes.

The launch marks the first stage of a “significant investment” in digital technology which will see a raft of new features added to the site over the coming months.

Petrovic said: “The transformation of eurostar.com is part of a wider investment in our business designed to ensure we continue to offer our customers the best possible end-to-end travel experience.

“In addition to this investment in our ‘virtual shop-window’, our £700 million programme of investment in our fleet of trains which encompasses the refurbishment of the existing Eurostar fleet and the purchase of 10 new trains is progressing well.”

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