Eurostar in Olympic talks

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Under the proposed deal, the company would provide thousands of free rail tickets to Olympic athletes and officials travelling to the capital from the European mainland.

In return Eurostar would be given exclusive marketing rights by the organising committee, Locog, and be entitled to use London 2012 branding on its trains.

Other rail companies are in talks to become a "tier two" Olympic sponsor, but Eurostar is thought to be favourite because of its international services.

The French-owned firm has reported a 10% fall in passenger numbers for the first quarter of this year but expects a surge in customers for London 2012.

The main rail hubs serving the Games would be Paris, Brussels and Lille and the firm hopes it will provide a cheaper alternative to air travel before and during the event.

An extended Olympic service is being developed to offer spectators from the European mainland a day return - currently starting at £59 from Paris and Brussels - which would avoid the cost of overnight accommodation in London.

Eurostar is expected to stress it is the low-carbon alternative to air travel to get to the self-styled "greenest Games ever".

During the Games the Eurostar service will travel direct from the continent to St Pancras without stopping en route at the new Stratford International station on the doorstep of the 2012 venues. Instead continental arrivals for the Olympics on Eurostar will have to take the "Javelin" shuttle service back to Stratford.

Locog has already signed sponsorship deals worth around £500 million towards a target of £700m. Locog and Eurostar declined to comment on sponsorship talks.