Eurostar will have a different look to its management team next year, it has been announced.

As part of a shake-up at the high-speed rail operator between London, Kent and the Continent, chief executive Richard Brown is to change jobs.

Mr Brown, who has been in the role since 2002, will become non-executive chairman of a new single company that will go live next year.

Eurostar had previously been a joint venture between London and Continental Railways, SNCF (French Railways) and SNCB (Belgian Railways), with a single management board.
Mr Brown will replace Guillaume Pepy, who has held the role of chairman at Eurostar since 1998. Monsieur Pepy is also president of SNCF.

Nicolas Petrovic, who joined Eurostar in 2003 and is currently chief operating officer, will take over as chief executive.

The changes are expected to coincide with the live launch of a single Eurostar company at the beginning of next year, and the opening of the high-speed line to competition.

Eurostar’s single corporate entity, to be known as Eurostar International Limited, is expected to follow the conclusion of discussions between the shareholders in the current joint venture structure.

It will continue to market itself and operate under the Eurostar brand.

Mr Brown said: “It has been seven years since I joined Eurostar, and from next year I look forward to a continuing role in overseeing the business in a new and exciting world.“

Mr Pepy added: “Richard Brown and Nicolas Petrovic have done a great job of leading Eurostar over the last few years, establishing it as the world’s premier international train operator. Eurostar’s punctuality since the re-opening of the Channel Tunnel in February has been more than 95 per cent.

“Since the launch of services in 1994, a ‘Eurostar Generation’ of cross-Channel travellers working and living between London, Paris and Brussels has been created. I look forward to the new company exploiting its unique expertise and experience in the forthcoming world of on-rail competition.”