Eurostar pulls in passengers a year after 'fluffy snow' debacle

A year after its services were paralysed by the wrong type of "fluffy snow", Eurostar today said a surge in business travellers helped its sales rise 12% to £760 million last year.

The high-speed Channel Tunnel rail operator carried 9.5 million passengers last year, 3% more than in 2009, which it said was mainly because of the recovery in demand from business passengers.

This was despite Eurostar again facing bad press in last month when snow and ice left thousands of passengers queuing for hours at stations in London, Paris and Brussels.

The group said it was doing well out of more travellers going beyond Paris and Brussels to destinations in the South of France, Germany and Holland.

Chief executive Nicolas Petrovic said: "With the expansion of new routes and services we are witnessing a real renaissance in rail travel. Customers are increasingly keen to explore new destinations by high-speed rail."