THE DAILY BRIEFING

GOING DUTCH Eurostar is pressing ahead with plans for direct rail services between London and Amsterdam amid a drop in passenger numbers on existing routes.

The cross-Channel rail operator said services between the cities are due to begin at the end of next year.

The London-Amsterdam route attracts more than 3m airline passengers each year. Eurostar believes that its direct four-hour train journeys will ‘greatly enhance’ transport links between the cities, with one-way fares from £29.

LINE DEAL Vodafone’s Dutch arm has agreed to sell its fixed-line operations to T-Mobile Netherlands in a bid to get EU competition authorities on side.

The deal – for an undisclosed sum – means 150,000 customers’ fixedline broadband will be handled by T-Mobile. It made the deal as a concession to regulators to get approval for the larger merger of Vodafone’s Dutch operations with Liberty Global’s Dutch subsidiary Ziggo.

Vodafone shares slipped 1.8pc, or 3.85p, to 213.65p.

SUMMER BOOST Virgin Media has posted a 30pc boost in income in the past three months driven by summer promotions.

The cable telecoms operator said it was investing in fibre broadband to the home, and added 45,000 new customers during the quarter.

But despite income rising 30pc to £85m in the past three months, it has fallen 5pc overall this year, to £253.5m, said the firm.

FLEET DEMAND New car registrations rose marginally last month with an increase in businesses buying fleet vehicles offsetting a slump in demand among individual consumers for the seventh month in a row.

Sales rose 1.4pc to 180,168 vehicles in October, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said, driven by strong demand by firms.

FUNDS UP The value of funds managed by Royal London has soared 20pc to more than £100bn, which the group said was a milestone in its history. The wealth manager said its new life and pensions business was up 30pc to £6.3bn.