<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Eurostar turns 10, still sees red

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=416><!-- S BO --><!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> Passengers will be entertained at check-in during the celebrations

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->It is 10 years since Eurostar started offering cross-channel train services, but in that time the company is still to make a profit.

Parties will be held at London Waterloo, Paris, Lille and Brussels on Sunday to mark the milestone.

The Anglo-Franco-Belgian company believes it will achieve a record of more than 7m passengers for 2004.

The operator says it expects to get closer than ever to breaking even in this financial year.

<!-- S IBOX --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5></TD><TD class=sibtbg> Its hopes of eventually making a profit may depend on negotiating down the fee it pays to Eurotunnel


BBC's Patrick Bartlett

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IBOX -->As part of the anniversary festivities, there will be a 2.5-metre cake in the shape of a train at Waterloo station in London.

Jugglers, balloons and a band will also entertain passengers as they check in.

A special celebration is planned for Monday after being postponed for a week in the wake of the Berkshire train crash.

Tunnel fees

BBC business correspondent Patrick Bartlett says 59 million passengers have travelled on Eurostar in its 10 years of operation.

<!-- S IBOX --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5></TD><TD class=sibtbg>EUROSTAR PROFITABILITY
Launched in 1994
Record passenger numbers of 7.1m in 2000
£42m loss in 2003, down from £92m in 2002
Hoping to break even in 2004
Hoping to make profit by 2007

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IBOX -->But that has not been enough to haul it out of the red.

Last year the company made a loss of almost £42 million. In 2002, the loss was more than £92 million.

Our correspondent said: "Its hopes of eventually making a profit may depend on negotiating down the fee it pays to Eurotunnel, the operator of the Channel Tunnel.

"That charge was set on the basis of passenger forecasts which proved wildly optimistic."

Eurostar said the fees took up 60% of its sales revenue.

It has also had to cope with competition from low-cost airlines.

But recent developments have provided a boost.

<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> The company blames Eurotunnel fees for its continued losses

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->The opening in 2003 of the first high speed section of the Channel Tunnel rail link shaved 20 minutes off the journey from London to both Paris and Brussels.

That is credited with helping the Eurostar attract twice as many travellers on its London-Paris route as those who fly between the two cities.

The monthly passenger record was broken in October, when 641,957 people travelled on the company's services.

Eurostar chairman Guillaume Pepy said last week the company's goal was turn become profitable by 2007. A second section of the rail link will be completed that year, taking a further 15 minutes off the fastest journey time. <!-- E BO -->
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4010527.stm

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