All change at Eurostar as it prepares to face competition

As part of what is being seen in some quarters as a political compromise between Britain and France, a Brit will no longer run the high-speed train service but Paris has agreed to reduce its stake in Eurostar, while Britain will increase its holding.

Also, Brown will move into the chairman's role currently inhabited by a Frenchman, Guillaume Pepy.

The new boss being lined up is Nicolas Petrovic, who was chief operating officer.

Under the proposed structure, SNCF's 62% stake will be cut back to about 55% while Britain's Department for Transport will own closer to 40% (33%). Belgium's state railway, the SNCB will retain 5%.

One source quoted in London this morning said not all Eurostar's directors were in favour of the changes. One said: "Some of the directors are not happy about the appointment as they feel it is a concession to the French."

However, a spokesman denied there was any significance in the nationalities, pointing out that seven out of 10 directors are British.

"Nationality is not a factor as far as I am aware. Eurostar is not like that," he said.

He claimed the moves had been made as part of a restructuring of the business ahead of the train routes being opened up to competition in 2010. To cope with the potential rivalry from the likes of Deutsche Bahn and Air France on its network, Eurostar is being turned from a three-way joint venture into a single entity so that it will be able to make quick decisions more easily.

It will continue to be based at its offices by St Pancras station.

Another factor behind the restructuring is the British Government's shake-up of London & Continental Railways, which built the high-speed rail link and owns and develops land around its stations.

Deutsche Bahn is said to have asked the Department of Transport whether it wants to sell the British stake.

The boardroom changes and the shift in company structure will all take place at the end of the year.

Current chairman Pepy will remain in his post running the giant SNCF network.

Last month, Brown, 56, said he was frustrated that the UK part of Eurostar was still not making a profit, blaming it on the more than £200-million-a-year charges it has pay for using the 70 miles of track.

He argued that the charge came out of revenues of £650m in 2008, so about one third is going straight into the Treasury's coffers. First half sales at the group fell 7% to £342.2 million as the recession took its toll.