Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Thousands of rugby fans travelling by Eurostar to France for World Cup

The cross-Channel train operator has added about 50 additional services during the tournament.

Neil Lancefield
Thursday 07 September 2023 10:07 EDT
Eurostar has recorded a near-30% increase in bookings for travel from London St Pancras to France during the Rugby World Cup (Gareth Fuller/PA)
Eurostar has recorded a near-30% increase in bookings for travel from London St Pancras to France during the Rugby World Cup (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Archive)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Eurostar has recorded a near-30% increase in bookings for travel from London St Pancras to France during the Rugby World Cup compared with the same period last year.

The cross-Channel train operator said it expects up to 600,000 people to use its services from London St Pancras to Paris or Lille during the seven-week tournament, which begins on Friday.

It has added about 50 additional services in response to the spike in demand, with the number of daily trains reaching up to 17 to Paris and seven to Lille.

More than 50,000 specially-designed desserts in the shape of rugby balls will be served to passengers with standard premier and business premier tickets on the London-Paris route.

They are a vanilla panna cotta with a hint of raspberry and a layered chocolate ganache.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in