Who owns Eurostar?
At the outset, Eurostar was owned by British Rail, French National Railways (SNCF) and Belgian National Railways (SNCB). Privatisation of British Rail triggered important changes, and BR set up a subsidiary called European Passenger Services which included its interests in Eurostar. In June 1996 EPS was sold to London & Continental Railways, which in February that year had signed a 999-year concession to build and operate the 108 km Channel Tunnel Rail Link between Cheriton and London King’s Cross. In October 1996 LCR changed the name of EPS to Eurostar (UK) Ltd. In 1998 LCR awarded a management contract to InterCapital & Regional Rail Ltd to manage Eurostar (UK) Ltd until 2010. ICRR is a consortium of National Express Group (40%), SNCF (35%), SNCB (15%) and British Airways (10%), which is a sleeping partner. Eurostar Group was set up in September 1999 to pursue a commercial strategy, with representatives from all three railways sitting on the board. A separate board still existed for
