How much could the severe weather cost Eurostar?

By Shanaz Musafer
Business reporter, BBC News

Stranded Eurostar train parked near Charing Heath in Kent

Eurostar's disrupted services left thousands stranded

The disruption to Eurostar services caused by the severe weather conditions could cost the company an estimated £10m.

The breakdown of six trains and the subsequent closure of services for three days left tens of thousands of passengers stranded.

The firm, which took £505m in ticket sales in the first nine months of the year, has offered a full refund to passengers who have had their journeys affected.

Eurostar takes an average of about £1.85m a day in sales, so it could cost the firm about £5.5m in refunds alone for the three days when there was no service.

As the company does not expect to run a full service before Christmas, at least another three days of disruption can be expected, which could mean that that figure doubles to £11m.

However, it is unlikely to rise by that much as the firm is making efforts to clear the backlog of passengers.

Travellers with tickets on Tuesday are now being told that there are some seats available on the day, having previously been told that they would not be eligible for travel until Wednesday.

Other expenses

On top of these estimates, there is also the additional compensation it has agreed to pay.

The 2,000 passengers who were trapped on the broken down trains will be given £150 each, totalling another £300,000, plus a free return ticket in the next 12 months, which could amount to £150,000.

Eurostar has also offered to cover "out-of pocket expenses" - for example, hotels and taxis - for anyone unable to travel.

Given that Eurostar carries more than 25,000 passengers a day, that could easily add up to another £3m or £4m.

It will also face significant engineering costs for getting the broken down trains running again after snow got into the trains' electrical parts.

Eurostar says its focus at the moment is on getting displaced people back home for Christmas, but it has launched an investigation into what went wrong with the breakdowns and with its handling of the situation.

At best, it could face payouts of between £5m to £10m. At worst, that figure could balloon to about £20m.

It could prove to be a costly Christmas for the company.