HS1 Ltd, the owner of Britain’s only high-speed railway, has been told to lower the charges which train operators including Eurostar pay to use the line from London to the Channel Tunnel.
The Office of Rail and Road, the industry regulator, on Monday ruled that overall charges should come down by 3.8 per cent, or £5mn per year, compared with HS1’s proposal.
Feras Alshaker, director of planning and performance at the Office of Rail and Road, said the changes would “result in significantly lower costs” for train operators, “which should benefit everyone who uses this railway”.
As well as Eurostar, the line is used by Southeastern and by freight operators.