Midlanders, Northerners and Scots are continuing to fuel growth at Eurostar following the cross-Channel passenger train service's move to St Pancras from Waterloo.

But Eurostar bosses are warning that while passenger numbers continue to grow at around a fifth year on year, falling consumer confidence is likely to hit usage.

Eurostar today said it carried 4.6 million passengers in the first half of the year, growth of 18% on the opening six months of 2007. Growth in the first quarter was 21%.

Chief executive Richard Brown said much of that 18% growth had come from the opening of new markets in which travellers from the North now have much better access to the Eurostar via the new St Pancras International terminal and are benefiting from simplified through-fares. Passengers originating from Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh are up by more than 50%, and have doubled from Leeds and Newcastle.

Brown said any slowdown in the number of passengers to the Continent because of the soaring euro is being countered by Europeans coming to the UK to take advantage of the weak pound. He added: "We are very much on track for 10 million passengers a year in 2010."