News

Britain's cross-channel operators bucked the economic trend and reported record numbers of passenger numbers this week.

Eurostar, which runs high-speed train services between London and Paris under the English Channel, says it carried 9.1 million passengers in 2008, up 10.3 percent from a year earlier.

The company said that sales would have been much better if it hadn't been for the September 11 fire in the channel tunnel, which caused delays and a reduction in traffic.

Dover port recorded its busiest December for four years, with passenger numbers increasing by 118,000.

The weak pound appears to have contributed significantly to the figures, with Europeans taking advantage of cheap shopping in the capital.