Eurostar says growing economic confidence has translated in greater demand for business travel, with the number of Business Premier travellers increasing by 6%. It also says revenue would have grown by 8% had income not been affected by currency fluctuations.

"The improvement we have seen in the corporate travel market in recent months underpins the strong performance reported today," says Eurostar's CEO Mr Nicolas Petrovic. "Coupled with the benign winter weather which saw far lower levels of weather-related disruption than in previous years, the first quarter has set us on course for continued growth throughout the year."