Government says it is up to France to save Eurostar as cross-Channel rail operator begs for taxpayer cash after losing 95 per cent of passengers due to Covid
- Grant Shapps says UK wants Eurostar ‘to survive’ but ‘it’s not our company’
- Over half of the shares of the cross-channel rail service are owned by France
- Eurostar has been crippled by Covid and now runs only one daily train to Europe
- Shapps said the UK would help but ultimately it’s the shareholders responsibility
The Government said today it’s France‘s responsibility to save the Eurostar after the cross-channel operator lost 95 per cent of its passengers due to coronavirus.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told MPs that the Government is ‘very keen for Eurostar to survive’ but insisted ‘it’s not our company’.
Eurostar is 55 per cent owned by French state rail company SNCF.
The cross-Channel rail operator revealed in November that it is ‘fighting for its survival’ after suffering a 95 per cent reduction in passenger numbers during the coronavirus pandemic.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, pictured today, has said the UK Government will not be responsible for saving the Eurostar, as it sold its shares for the company in 2015, and the majority is now owned by French state rail firm SNCF
It is running just one daily train in each direction between London and Paris, and between London and Amsterdam via Brussels.
Giving evidence to the Commons Transport Select Committee, Mr Shapps said the UK will be ‘as helpful as possible’, stating that schemes such as UK Export Finance – which partially guarantees loans – could be utilised.
But he continued: ‘We don’t own the shares, so, to state the obvious, it is the shareholders’ problem to resolve.
‘We’ll be as helpful as possible but it’s not for us to take over their issue.
‘You’ve got 55% ownership by the French state. It’s not just any old shareholder.’
The UK government sold its shares in the cross-channel rail network to private companies for £757million
Mr Shapps added: ‘The solution will be found. I don’t think there’s any world in which we cease to have that connection up and running in the future when indeed we’re all able to travel again.’
The UK Government sold its Eurostar stake to private companies for £757 million in 2015.
Last month, France’s junior transport minister, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, told a parliamentary hearing in Paris that the level of support given to Eurostar by France will be ‘based on our involvement’.