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Eurostar Travel Costs More For Brits

Thu, 03 May 2007

Brits are being charged more than overseas commuters for travelling with Eurostar .

Campaigners have slammed the company after it was revealed that UK passengers and commuters pay around three times more for train travel than other Europeans, a practice of high pricing that has now extended to Eurostar services to the Continent.

Research has shown that customers who select any country other than Britain as their country of residence, when visiting the Eurostar website, are more than likely to be offered big discounts on UK fares.

The cheapest return ticket from London to the Continent on the Eurostar train is £59 if made via telephone booking from the UK, or if you book with Eurostar online and state your residence in this country .

However, if you were to book from France, or supply a French address on the website, the cost comes to €77 (£52.60), resulting in a discount of more than 10 per cent, for exactly the same ticket .

UK travellers are penalised even more if they want to book a single ticket, with the cheapest single fare being £154, according to Eurostar, which is three times the amount paid by US or Australian travellers.

Japanese, American or Australian visitors are entitled to a cheaper, no-refund ticket which costs as little as £45.80.

Jane Cobell, of pressure group Passenger Focus said, "Value for money is the real Achilles heel of rail travel. Passengers are going to be very upset to find out they are paying over the odds for travelling to the continent than Europeans travelling here."

A spokesman for Eurostar admitted there was nothing to stop British customers typing in a different country of origin on the website, but denied UK consumers were being treated unfairly. He added there were no plans to change the pricing structure.

He said, "Our prices fluctuate, depending on the different market and the promotions that may be on in one country but not another at the same time."
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