Eurostar has reached a refinancing agreement with its shareholders and banks.
The refinancing package of £250m (289.9m euros | 353.9m USD) mainly consists of additional equity and loans from a syndicate of banks guaranteed by the shareholders.
Over the last year, Eurostar has experienced a more severe decline in demand from the pandemic than any other European train operator or competitor airline. With this package of support, it will be able to continue operating, meet its financial obligations in the short to mid-term and aims to successfully complete its merger with Thalys, as part of the Green Speed project.
“The refinancing agreement is the key factor in enabling us to increase our services as the situation with the pandemic starts to improve. Eurostar will continue to work closely with governments to move towards a safe easing of travel restrictions and streamlining of border processes to allow passengers to travel safely and seamlessly. Their coordinated actions and decisions are crucial to restoring demand and the financial recovery of our business.”
Going forward, Eurostar’s focus will be on restoring demand on its core routes between London and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, and maintaining rigorous cost control to ensure the repayment of loans.
It will increase the number of trains on its London-Paris route to two daily return services from the 27 May and three per day from the end of June, with a view to gradually increasing the frequency over the summer period as travel restrictions are eased.
