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Behind the scenes
We’ve come a long way since we started operating in 1994 and Eurostar is now run by one unified management team.
When we launched, Eurostar was owned by SNCF, SNCB and British Rail.
Before UK rail privatisation, a subsidiary called European Passenger Services (EPS) was created. It included British Rail's interest in Eurostar and was sold to London & Continental Railways (LCR) in June 1996.
In October of that year, LCR changed the name to Eurostar UK Ltd (EUKL). At that time, EUKL, SNCF and SNCB were each responsible for running Eurostar services in their own territory.
In September 1999, Eurostar Group was established. It was a unified management structure, created to drive some of the commercial direction and strategy of the business.
On 31 December 2009, Eurostar (U.K.) Ltd changed its name to Eurostar International Ltd and on 1 September 2010, we completed the legal transformation to become one unified business owned by three shareholders: SNCF (55%), SNCB (5%) and LCR (40%). LCR’s holding was transferred to the Treasury in June 2014.
In May 2015, the UK government completed the sale of its 40% share to a consortium made up of two companies: Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (CDPQ) and Hermes Infrastructure.
For more on how Eurostar is run, you can read about our Board of Directors and Management Team.