Eurostar services to Paris and Brussels will be the latest victim of Brexit uncertainty as the cross-Channel rail operator said it is facing a “challenging environment”. It will not become clear which services will disappear from the schedule until a new international timetable is released to come into effect in December, but one in 12 is expected to be axed. At least 80 jobs will go, too. Two daily trains to the French capital, out of a usual 21, and one to the Belgian capital, out of 10 daily, are likely to be cancelled. Read more: the cheapest way from London to Paris Eurostar earlier this year said that the vote to leave the EU had contributed to a “challenging” second quarter of 2016, with passengers numbers falling 3 per cent on the same period in 2015. The operator’s CEO Nicolas Petrovic said at the time it was due to a “slowdown in business travel” thanks to “uncertainty following the vote to leave, combined with the Brussels terrorist attack”. A spokesperson for Eurostar said: “This is a challenging environment for all travel companies and we need to manage our costs carefully. That’s why we are looking at the size and shape of our business. This video content is no longer available To watch The Telegraph's latest video content please visit “We are committed to minimising the impact of these changes on our colleagues and our current focus is on managing any reductions through voluntary redundancies and sabbaticals as much as possible.” A reduction in the number of daily services to the Continent will not necessarily mean fewer seats as Eurostar’s new e320 trains, introduced this year and now covering the majority of the route to Paris, have 20 per cent more capacity than the previous fleet. Eurostar carries about 80 per cent of the cross-Channel traffic, with the Channel Tunnel and ferry services making up the difference.
Brexit uncertainty is being blamed by Eurostar for cuts in services to Paris and Brussels . It is not known which services will continue until the new timetable is published in December , but two daily trains to Paris and to Brussels are expected to be cancelled , along with the loss of at least 80 jobs . The company announced earlier this year that the Brexit vote had contributed to a " challenging " Q2 , with passenger numbers down 3 % on the same period in 2015 . A spokesperson said Eurostar is looking to manage the reductions , where possible , through voluntary redundancies and restructuring .