Direct Trains Between London and Disneyland Will Be Suspended From Next Year, Eurostar Confirms

According to the announcement of the company, this route will be suspended from June 5 next year, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

Eurostar emphasized that this decision has been taken as part of efforts to increase the focus on “main roads” after the country recovered from the pandemic and monitored the plans for the new rules of entry and exit from the European Union.

In addition, Eurostar also added that it will “re-examine options” for 2024 next year.

Eurostar explains that direct trains between London St Pancras International and Marne-la-Vallee – a station near Disneyland Paris, east of the French capital – take two hours and 24 minutes.

The suspension of the service means that passengers will now have to change to Paris or Lille. The route has been operating since 1996, although it was halted for a time at the height of the COVID restrictions.

Commenting on this decision, Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, considered that adding direct trains from the United Kingdom to Disneyland Paris would be disappointing news for many people.

“Taking young ones to the famous park in France has been a highlight for thousands of British families for many years. Eurostar has suggested that they have taken this decision based on the logistical implications of Brexit, which doesn’t surprise me,” she pointed out.

Eurostar has said it is recovering from the financial hit of the pandemic and is monitoring EU plans to tighten entry rules, which will come into force in 2023. The new changes mean that arrivals in the EU from outside the bloc and the Schengen area will have their fingerprints scanned, and a photograph will be taken to record them in a database.

At the same time, it has been confirmed that  these rules will also apply to UK visitors.

“Whilst we continue to recover financially from the pandemic and monitor developments in the proposed EU Entry-Exit system, we need to focus on our core routes to ensure we can continue to provide the high level of service and experience that our customers rightly expect,” a Eurostar spokesperson noted.

Moreover, travel restrictions due to COVID-19 have left Eurostat heavily damaged and last year the insurer secured a £250m bailout from banks and investors.

On the other hand, in 2019, Eurostar warned that it was “fighting for survival”, after seeing a 95 per cent drop in demand.