Thanks to the bureaucracy of Brexit, London St Pancras’s capacity has been cut by a third. The two clear agents of doom for Eurostar were Covid and Brexit – the pandemic almost killing the service entirely in 2020 when international travel was all but banned and Britain’s exit from the EU making stations unviable due to the lack of capacity for increased border requirements. From now on, growth for Eurostar simply means possible connections and onward routes in Belgium and Germany after the merger with Franco-Belgian operator Thalys. The firm, majority owned by French state operator SNCF, is still talking about expansion – but not any more on the British side, or to boost direct trains from London. Eurostar also does not know if the direct ski train to Bourg St Maurice, revived only on a charter basis for winter sports firms post-Covid, will run again. Now, Eurostar trains visit just six of the 13 stations served in summer 2019, with the limited seats from Amsterdam and Rotterdam likely to disappear next year unless the train operator can find a late solution.
