LONDON-
The Eurostar train, which connects London with continental Europe, appears to be getting more popular.
Eurostar carried 7.85 million passengers in 2006, a 5 percent increase over the previous year.
Leisure travelers increased by 4.5 percent, while business travelers increased by over 17 percent, according to Eurostar Group Ltd., which operates the train.
The company attributed the increase in part to travelers looking to avoid hassles in air travel, like the new airport security measures imposed last summer, and the foggy weather that grounded flights in Britain around Christmas.
The company estimated that of those who used Eurostar for the first time last year, 1,000 business customers a week have now permanently switched to taking the train.
Eurostar said it also benefited last year from its partnership with “The Da Vinci Code” film that was set in London and Paris. The train line ran a “Da Vinci”-style marketing contest with codes and puzzles, and its marketing director Greg Nugent was quoted in Business Week magazine as saying that “the No. 1 lost and found item on the trains” were copies of the book, as many passengers appeared to making London-Paris pilgrimages related to the story.
Eurostar trains run from London’s Waterloo station to Gare du Nord in Paris, through the Chunnel, in two hours, 35 minutes, and from London to Brussels in two hours, 30 minutes. Other stations served by Eurostar include Marne-la-Vallee at Disneyland Paris.
——
