Eurostar, which was a symbol of the success of TGV connections in Europe, almost derailed with the crisis and Brexit.
Its income fell 95% during the pandemic.
And the company which only provides one return trip from Paris to London and one Paris to Brussels per day at the moment was threatened with bankruptcy if it did not find new money before the end of May.
In reality, the company suffers from being perceived in the United Kingdom as a French public company, while it is often seen in France as a British company since it is based in London.
Eurostar is 55% owned by SNCF, 40% by the Patina Rail consortium (made up of 30% of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and 10% of the British fund Hermes Infrastructure) and 5% by the Belgian SNCB.
Suddenly, during the crisis, she was not helped by the English.
But she was not also really helped by the French, because she is in England… Consequently, she did not succeed in benefiting from direct assistance or loans guaranteed by the States during the crisis.
If Eurostar has already benefited at the end of 2020 from an injection of 200 million euros from its shareholders, the company, which lost 85% of its travelers in 2020, sees its future somewhat clearer. During a new round table, the cross-Channel company, a 55% subsidiary of SNCF, announced that it had entered into a financing agreement of 250 million pounds (290 million euros) with its shareholders and its banks. This includes the contribution of 50 million pounds of equity by its shareholders, a loan of 150 million guaranteed by these same shareholders and 50 million of existing credit facilities restructured.
At the same time, the company has embarked on a cost reduction operation by reducing its salary costs as much as possible, but also by renegotiating its contracts with its suppliers or by postponing the maturity of certain loans that it had to repay.
SNCF Voyageurs CEO Christophe Fanichet welcomed "this refinancing, which is a major step to ensure the sustainability of Eurostar and travel between the Continent and Great Britain".
The company has also undertaken to increase its offer to two daily round trips on the London Paris line, then with a third service from the end of June. It "will increase the frequency gradually over the summer, as the expected relaxation of travel restrictions", she explains, adding that this agreement "helps to secure the future of Eurostar in a context of lifting of travel restrictions and gradual resumption of activity. "
It remains to be seen, whether this money that will avoid filing for bankruptcy in the immediate future. But new solutions could emerge in the future. Responding to the code name "Green Speed", a project already launched in 2019 aims to create a European operator, first positioned on the routes currently provided by Eurostar (Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and London, etc.) and Thalys (Paris , Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, etc.) then subsequently on other European markets.