Next summer, Britons will be unable to take one of a direct trains to Disneyland Paris. Eurostar, the high-speed rail operator, announced Wednesday that service between London and the theme park on the outskirts of Paris will be discontinued on June 5, 2023.
For the decision to suspend Disneyland Paris trains to the European outpost of the Magic Kingdom, Eurostar, which is owned by French rail operator SNCF, stated that it needs to “focus on our core routes to stabilize our operations.” The railroad also mentioned financial commitments and new entry and exit requirements between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
In some good news, Eurostar announced that it would “review” its operations for 2024, leaving open the possibility of resuming train service to Disneyland Paris.
Eurostar reported that business travel on its main London-Paris route had recovered to 70% of pre-pandemic levels in the first six months of the year, without providing specific figures; it operated at roughly 75% of its pre-pandemic schedule. SNCF Voyageurs, which includes Eurostar as well as the rest of SNCF’s passenger train services, has reported a strong rebound in passenger numbers on its trains during the first half of the year, particularly beginning in March.
In March, SNCF received European Commission approval to merge Eurostar and Thalys, which operate high-speed passenger trains in Belgium and the Netherlands, into the new Eurostar Group. The new company intends to increase ridership to 30 million by 2030, up from 19 million in 2019.