Eurostar could scrap ski train to the Alps over Brexit border issues
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The future of Eurostar’s ski train to the Alps is under review amid concerns over Brexit border checks.
The popular high-speed service, which takes skiers from London St Pancras directly to the Alps, has been mired in doubt over recent weeks with passengers still unable to buy tickets for the upcoming ski season.
The Telegraph has now seen correspondence to customers from Eurostar in which it said it had taken the “difficult decision to discontinue the direct ski train”.
The EES, which requires non-EU travellers to have their photographs taken and fingerprints scanned when entering a country, is expected to initially cause delays for people travelling between the UK and EU.
It is now not expected to come in until at least after summer 2024.
Responding to The Telegraph, Eurostar indicated a final decision on the ski train’s future had not been made yet, and stressed it was “still reviewing its plans” and would “share more details soon”.
It also announced an 11-month pause in services between London and Amsterdam, so that Amsterdam Centraal station can be expanded to accommodate passport checks and baggage.
In January, Gwendoline Cazenave, Eurostar’s chief executive, complained that it was being forced to leave hundreds of seats empty on trains because of border checks requiring officials to stamp individual passports, taking 30 per cent longer than before Brexit.
She said that roughly 350 out of 900 seats were normally left unsold because of the issues.
Any changes to the ski train would come as a blow to some skiers, which saw the service as a greener alternative to flying when accessing the slopes.
The once-a-week service, from London to either Moutiers or Bourg St Maurice, is run exclusively with Travelski, a company which provides transfers to 10 resorts across the Alps.
However, despite tickets being available in June in previous years, Travelski has still yet to put any new tickets for the coming season on its site.
The ski train was first launched in December 1997 and became popular with ski goers until the pandemic halted services.
In 2021, the service through Travelski began, with tickets being available only as part of a package, including accommodation and seven-day lift passes.
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