Eurostar agrees £250m refinancing deal

EUROSTAR HAS revealed it has secured a £250m refinancing agreement with its shareholders and banks, which it said would allow it to continue running services and meet its short- to mid-term financial obligations. The deal was confirmed on May 18 and involves £50m of shareholder equity, £150m of shareholder guaranteed loans and £50m of restructured existing loan facilities. The lenders include Export Development Canada, Barclays, Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, Société Générale, NatWest and BNP Paribas.

Ridership fell by 95% due to the COVID-19 pandemic and services were reduced to one return train per day on each of the London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam routes, with many of the staff being furloughed. The high-speed operator has said it will focus on restoring demand on its core routes from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, maintaining rigorous cost control to ensure loan repayments, and completing the planned merger with Thalys under the Green Speed project to create ‘one unified European high speed rail company’.

It planned to add a second daily London to Paris return service from May 27, rising to three per day from the end of June. A sensible increase in frequency is planned during the summer as travel restrictions are eased. No timescales were announced for strengthening the Brussels and Amsterdam routes.