Eurostar has reported a sharp rise in demand for accessible and assisted travel across its international network, with new figures pointing to a structural shift in how passengers, and increasingly corporate travel buyers, expect inclusion to be built into long-distance journeys.
Released ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day on 21 May, the operator’s data shows more than 32,900 accessibility-related contacts between January and November 2025. That is a 15.34% increase on the same period in 2024, and almost 49% higher than in 2023, a trajectory that Eurostar attributes to growing confidence in cross-border rail and to a wider awareness of the support now available at every stage of the journey.
The growth is concentrated at Eurostar’s busiest hubs. Assistance requests at London St Pancras International climbed 16.6% year-on-year, while Paris saw a 10% uplift on 2024, even after stripping out the residual effect of the heightened visibility generated by that year’s Paralympic Games. Significantly, the numbers are no longer driven by mobility needs alone. More passengers are now requesting support for non-visible disabilities, including neurodiversity and cognitive conditions, alongside requests for clearer information and reassurance throughout the journey.
The shift dovetails with a broader trend as global business travellers are increasingly choosing train travel as their preferred mode of transport, particularly across Europe’s high-speed corridors. As volumes rise, so do expectations around the standard of service for travellers who need additional support.
A wider support framework
To help passengers navigate the available services, Eurostar has expanded its accessibility guide, which outlines what is on offer at each stage of travel. The operator currently provides dedicated accessibility teams in stations and contact centres, coordinated assistance across borders, guided routing through stations and to and from trains, priority check-in on London routes, wheelchair spaces and accessible onboard facilities, companion fares for those who cannot travel independently, and dedicated waiting areas.
Support for non-visible disabilities continues to expand, including work linked to the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower scheme, the global symbol that allows travellers to discreetly indicate that they may need additional time, patience or understanding.
Insight-led design
Eurostar says its accessibility strategy is shaped directly by customer voice, drawing on feedback from more than 4,500 passengers with accessibility needs each year. That work is reinforced by ongoing collaboration with disability organisations, customer panels and specialist advisers. Recent improvements include enhanced accessibility information online, upgraded waiting areas in Brussels and Amsterdam, additional station wheelchairs and strengthened assistance services across international routes.
The cross-border element is increasingly important as the European rail map evolves. Brussels has been pushing to make cross-border rail travel a one-ticket affair for business travellers, and operators are under pressure to ensure that the accessibility experience travels just as smoothly between jurisdictions as the ticket itself.
Kirsty Hollywood, customer accessibility manager at Eurostar, said passengers increasingly want journeys that feel clear, supportive and confidence-building from start to finish, whether that involves physical assistance, better information or simply knowing help is available if needed. She added that staff interactions remain one of the biggest drivers of customer confidence, with all Eurostar employees receiving regular accessibility awareness training.
What it means for corporate travel
For travel buyers and business travellers, the implications are significant. Accessibility is shifting from a specialist enquiry handled in isolation to a mainstream component of duty-of-care policy, route selection and supplier choice. With Eurostar’s network set to expand further, including its memorandum of understanding to advance plans for a direct London–Switzerland rail link, the operator’s investment in inclusive design will increasingly be a factor in corporate procurement decisions, not simply a customer-service afterthought.
The direction of travel, on this evidence, is unmistakable: inclusion is becoming a core part of the European rail proposition, and demand is rising faster than many in the industry had anticipated.