Volcanic Ash Cloud Good Business for Trains

A volcanic ash cloud, which drifted across European airspace earlier this year, leading to the cancellation of more than 100,000 flights, and affecting over 10 million passengers, was good business for the Eurostar train service.
Volcanic Ash Cloud Good Business for Trains
A view showing heavy clouds over dwellings set near the Eyjafjoell volcano in Iceland, on May 17, 2010. (Heidar Kristjansson/AFP/Getty Images)
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/99655176.jpg" alt="A view showing heavy clouds over dwellings set near the Eyjafjoell volcano in Iceland, on May 17, 2010. (Heidar Kristjansson/AFP/Getty Images)" title="A view showing heavy clouds over dwellings set near the Eyjafjoell volcano in Iceland, on May 17, 2010. (Heidar Kristjansson/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1817073"/></a>
A view showing heavy clouds over dwellings set near the Eyjafjoell volcano in Iceland, on May 17, 2010. (Heidar Kristjansson/AFP/Getty Images)
A volcanic ash cloud, which drifted across European airspace earlier this year, leading to the cancellation of more than 100,000 flights, and affecting over 10 million passengers, was good business for the Eurostar train service.

The high-speed train service between London and Brussels transported an extra 100,000 people during the air crisis, for a total ridership of 4.6 million passengers in the first half of this year.

The company also posted an 18 percent increase in revenue in the first half of the year, coming in at $620 million.

According to Eurostar, the increase is not completely the result of the ash cloud, it also reflected an increase in the business market.

The volcanic ash cloud caused an estimated loss of more than $1.7 billion for the airline industry, according to the International Air Transport Association.