Eurostar is on track for a financial collapse that risks cutting off a vital link to the Continent as the pandemic subsides, business leaders and MPs have warned the Chancellor.
Rishi Sunak is also this weekend facing public calls to bail out the Channel Tunnel operator after repeatedly rejecting private appeals for taxpayer support.
Eurostar has been left fighting for survival after travel restrictions triggered a 95pc plunge in passengers since March 2020. It has pared operations to just two services-a-day as it scrambles to preserve cash.
Industry sources said that forecasts indicate it could run out of money as early as April, although company insiders insisted its reserves could be stretched until the summer.
A letter sent this weekend from business leaders to Mr Sunak and Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, urges them to act. It says: “[We are] concerned about the prospects of Eurostar, and are calling on swift action to safeguard its future. With international passenger numbers likely to remain low into the spring, our green gateway to Europe is in peril.”
So, it goes bust. And?
The tunnel’s still there, the trains exist, the workforce doesn’t get decimated or anything. What goes bust is the legal wrapper. Some capitalists lose some money.
The moment it does go bust some other capitalists will step in because the tunnel’s still there, the trains, the workforce.
That is, Eurostar can go bust and we simply don’t give a fuck. Since we don’t we don’t need to do anything, do we?