Record ticket sales reported by Eurostar

EUROSTAR yesterday unveiled record ticket sales for the past year – despite thousands of its passengers being stranded by train breakdowns in December.

The high-speed train operator said ticket sales were up 1.7 per cent to 9.2 million, bringing in 675.5 million.

Eurostar's route to Brussels saw a 6 per cent rise in travellers compared with 2008, while the Paris service saw a passenger increase of 1 per cent. Revenue rose 1.7 per cent, helped by a 15.6 per cent jump in leisure ticket sales, but the company said business sales had "bottomed out" in late 2009.