Kentish Express Ashford & District
Sales slump prompts job and train cuts at Eurostar
Eurostar is cutting dozens of jobs and reducing daily services by the end of this year in the wake of falling passenger numbers.
But the company has not yet disclosed how services or jobs at Ashford and Ebbsfleet stations will be affected as part of the changes.
The cross-Channel high-speed train operator confirmed some 80 jobs would be lost throughout the business, with ticket sales down 3% on last year.
In an interview with a French newspaper, Eurostar chief executive Nicolas Petrovic put the fall down to the Paris terror attacks, Brexit and the migrant crisis.
He said the Paris attacks had had the biggest effect, with Brexit only causing problems during the referendum campaign and effective new security in Calais helping to stem the problems with migrants in France.
A new timetable, which will be published in December, is expected to see a reduced number of Eurostar’s seven daily services between Ashford and the French and Belgian capitals.
A spokesman for Eurostar said: “We are having to cut jobs and what we’re offering first is voluntary redundancy. It will be happening this year.
“We are committed to minimising the impact of these changes on our colleagues, and our current focus is on managing any reductions through voluntary redundancies and sabbaticals as much as possible.”
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