Eurostar passengers fall after terror attacks

The Eurostar rail service connects the UK with France and Belgium. Photo / Supplied

Eurostar rail passenger numbers have fallen as travellers "remain cautious" following the Brussels terror attacks.

The BBC reported that passenger numbers for the high-speed rail service had fallen to 2.2 million in the three months to the end of March from 2.3 million in the previous year.

Revenues were also down 6 per cent from a year earlier and there had been a particular decline in travellers from the US and Asia.

The service links London with Avignon, Brussels, Lille, Lyon, Marseille and Paris.

Eurostar chief executive Nicolas Petrovic told the BBC that travellers "remained cautious" following terrorist attacks in Brussels in March.

He said passengers coming from the UK had rebounded "quite quickly", but those travelling from further afar were still wary.

"People coming from North America and Southeast Asia, particularly Japan, are fearful of coming to Europe at all. They don't really understand what's going on and would rather go elsewhere altogether," he said.

However, Eurostar had a surge in ticket sales ahead of the Euro 2016 football tournament in France, and expected 500,000 passengers to travel to the main host cities.

- nzherald.co.nz