Eurostar Group’s new dynamic
Building on its growth in 2024, Eurostar Group, which now operates in 5 countries and serves 28 destinations, plans to carry 30 million passengers each year by 2030 in order to speed up the modal shift to rail.
19.5 million passengers in 2024
In 2024, the Eurostar Group, which lumps together Eurostar and Thalys, carried 19.5 million passengers; a result driven by strong demand especially during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Now the new group has set its sights on carrying 30 million passengers each year by 2030.
19.5 M
passengers carried in 2024
An increase of
850,000
passengers compared to 2023
1.9 M
clients carried during Paris 2024
Most popular routes in 2024
The fastest-growing routes on the Eurostar network in 2024:
- London - Paris (+280,000 passengers)
- London - Brussels (+250,000 passengers)
- Paris - Brussels (+160,000 passengers)
- Paris – Netherlands (+140,000 passengers)
Our new "Eurostar Celestia" will launch in 2031
On 22 October 2025, Eurostar announced its order for 30 new trains, with an option for a further 20, from Alstom: a 2 billion euros investment (including 1,4 billion euros for Alstom) as the Group gears up to reach 30 million annual passengers by 2030.
Named Eurostar Celestia, from the Latin word caelestis meaning "celestial", this new fleet will be interoperable across all five countries served today plus new destinations Geneva and Frankfurt.
Designed with sustainability and accessibility at its core, supporting the company’s long-term environmental goals, these future trainsets will offer 20% more seat capacity and increased comfort. They will bring the total fleet to 67 trains – a 30% uplift overall versus today.
100 renewable energy
Eurostar Group has also committed to powering its trains with 100% renewable energy by 2030. The Group has indeed joined the RE1002 alliance of companies committed to sourcing 100% renewable energy in order to start working with partners and regulators towards this goal. In the Netherlands, Eurostar trains have been running on 100% wind power since 2017, and in the UK this figure has risen to 40% since 2023.
A sustainable alternative to air and road
The new Eurostar Group can whisk passengers from London to Paris in 2h15, London to Amsterdam in 3h52 and Paris to Amsterdam in 3h19. Serving 5 countries and a catchment area of 245 million consumers, it has the largest high-speed network in Western Europe. Its purpose is to accelerate the modal shift to rail by offering an attractive alternative to road and air transport.
About Eurostar Group
The Eurostar-Thalys merger effort was launched in September 2019 and approved by the European Commission in late March 2022. The Eurostar Group holding company was founded on 1 May 2022, with SNCF Voyages Développement (a subsidiary of SNCF Voyageurs) taking 55.75% of its shares. Other shareholders are CDPQ with 19.31%, SNCB with 18.50%, and funds managed by Federated Hermes Infrastructure with 6.44%. The holding company is based in Brussels and owns 100% of shares in Eurostar International Limited (Eurostar) and THI Factory SA (Thalys), which remain rail companies in their own right. Eurostar is headquartered in London and Thalys in Brussels.
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