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£17m blaze toll on Eurotunnel
08.10.08
The shutdown of the Channel Tunnel last month due to a fire on a vehicle shuttle train has cost Eurotunnel €22 million (£17 million) in lost revenues.
Eurotunnel not only operates the Tunnel, charging the Eurostar passenger services and freight-train companies to pass to and from the UK and the Continent, but also the car and lorry shuttle train services.
The 30-hour shutdown and subsequent hit on other services contributed to a 6% dive in revenues to €189 million in the three months to the end of September.
The fire broke out on 11 September on one of Eurotunnel's trains, which shuttle on a 30-mile stretch of the railway. Fourteen people were hurt.
The news took the shine off otherwise fairly strong figures. They showed that a total of
2.37 million passengers went through the tunnel on the Eurostar services, indicating a 6% underlying growth in volumes. However, because of the ongoing clear-up of the Tunnel, Eurostar has since announced it will cut services this winter by 7%.
