Media Centre

National Express and Eurostar launch through fares from East Anglia to the Continent

06 May 2008

National Express East Anglia has linked up with Eurostar, the international high-speed train operator, to offer through fares to Paris, Brussels, Disneyland ® Resort Paris and beyond from East Anglia stations, with return tickets available from just £77.

National Express East Anglia stations including Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Manningtree and Stowmarket all now offer through fares to mainland Europe.

Through fares and better connections with St Pancras International are helping to drive up demand for rail travel to the Continent. Eurostar journeys by travellers living in East Anglia were up by more than a third in the first quarter of 2008, compared with a year ago.

The new link-up with National Express East Anglia takes Eurostar’s total number of partnerships with domestic train operators to nine. Travellers from Ipswich and Norwich, for instance, can now buy through fares to Paris, Brussels (and to any station in Belgium) and Disneyland ® Resort Paris from £77 return.

For National Express East Anglia travellers, through fares include the transfer on London Underground from Liverpool Street to St Pancras International at no extra cost, and a guarantee that travellers will be put on the next available train, if there is a late running service in either direction. Unlike many air fares, there are also are no booking fees or taxes.

Rail travel to the Continent is often quicker and more convenient than going by air with a fastest total journey time from Ipswich to Brussels of 4 hours 20 minutes, and 4 hours 40 minutes to Paris (includes transfer from Liverpool Street to St Pancras International and 30-minute Eurostar check-in), together with frequent connecting services from East Anglia stations.

David Lewis, Sales and Marketing Director for National Express East Anglia commented:

‘National Express is committed to making travel simpler. The opportunity to buy through fares from East Anglia to the Continent is a great step towards achieving this. Travel to Europe has never been quicker, more convenient or better value.’

Simon Montague, Director of Communications for Eurostar, said: ‘With Eurostar’s move to St Pancras International and with through fares at prices as good as or better than those offered by regional airlines, millions more UK residents have much greater choice in they way they travel to the Continent.

‘The increasing numbers of UK travellers choosing to travel to mainland Europe by rail shows that a clear shift is occurring, with more and more people regarding the train as a better option.’

Through fares to Paris, Brussels and Disneyland Resort® Paris are available from www.eurostar.com and on 08705 186 186 and start from £77 standard return. Travellers can also book through fares to over 75 destinations across France; any station in Belgium; Dutch destinations including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Schiphol and The Hague; and Aachen and Cologne in Germany. Through fares are available up to 84 days in advance, in line with National Express East Anglia‘s booking horizons.

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Notes to Editors:

For further information about this press release, please ring the National Express East Anglia Press Office on 0207 549 5966 / 5964. For urgent or out-of-office hours calls, please leave a message by ringing 07623 952612. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

All recent press releases can be found on the National Express East Anglia website at nationalexpresseastanglia.com

About National Express East Anglia: National Express East Anglia operates services from London Liverpool Street across the East of England. Over 100 million passenger journeys are made on its services each year.

About National Express Group: Around one billion journeys a year are made worldwide on our bus, train, light rail and express coach operations. We deliver services in the UK, North America and Spain. Our aim is to Make Travel Simpler. Our 40,000 employees are committed to improve the quality of life for all through travel.

About National Express UK: In January 2008, National Express Group PLC integrated its subsidiary companies into one single business, now known as National Express UK Limited. This includes National Express coaches, National Express West Midlands, National Express Coventry, National Express Dundee, National Express East Coast, National Express East Anglia, C2C, National Express Dot to Dot; Kingsferry; the Midland Metro; Eurolines and Travel London.

About Eurostar

Eurostar is the high-speed passenger train service linking St Pancras International, Ebbsfleet International, Ashford International, Paris, Brussels, Lille, Calais, Disneyland Resort Paris, Avignon and the French Alps.

Eurostar and Eurotunnel are entirely separate companies. Eurostar operates high-speed passenger trains, while Eurotunnel operates a vehicle shuttle service and the Channel tunnel itself. Eurostar is Eurotunnel’s biggest customer.

For more information:
Eurostar Press Office
+44 (0) 20 7843 5500
press.office@eurostar.co.uk
For images please go to www.eurostarimagery.co.uk and register