Eurostar appoints new Communications Director

Eurostar, the high-speed train service that links the UK with France and Belgium, has appointed Simon Montague as its new Director of Communications.

Simon currently works as a consultant at the top-twenty corporate communications consultancy Fishburn Hedges and will join Eurostar in April, reporting to Commercial Director, Nick Mercer.

Simon joined Fishburn Hedges in 2004, having been the Transport Correspondent for BBC News since 1997. Previously, he covered transport for BBC South East and before that he was News Editor of New Civil Engineer magazine.

He succeeds Paul Charles, who joins Virgin Atlantic as Director of Corporate Communications next week.

Commenting on the appointment, Richard Brown, Chief Executive, Eurostar said: “We welcome Simon to Eurostar at an important time in the development of the business. His strong transport background will help us as we prepare for the move to St.Pancras in 2007. We also thank Paul for his enormous contribution to our growth in recent years and wish him continuing success at Virgin Atlantic.”

Simon Montague said: “I am delighted to be joining Eurostar at such an exciting time. I have admired the company’s progress and look forward to playing my part as Eurostar continues to grow its traveller numbers and market share.”

In 2005, Eurostar carried a record 7.45 million travellers and achieved record sales of £464 million. More than 68 million people have now travelled with Eurostar since services began in 1994.

Editor’s Notes:

1. Eurostar is the fast train service linking London, Ashford, Paris, Brussels, Lille, Avignon, Calais, Disneyland Resort Paris and the French Alps.

2. Eurostar has won the title of “World’s Leading Rail Service” for the last eight years at the World Travel Awards.

3. Eurostar and Eurotunnel are two entirely different companies with two different management teams. Eurostar is Eurotunnel’s largest customer.

4. In 2007, Eurostar will switch to St. Pancras International. Journey times will fall further with London-Paris down to 2h 15m; London-Brussels 1h 51m and London-Lille just 1h20m.

5. To book tickets for Eurostar, or to find out more information, go to  www.eurostar.com , call 08705 186186 or contact your travel agent.

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For more information:

Eurostar Press Office  
+44 (0)20 7922 4494
press.office@eurostar.co.uk

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