Eurostar gets French chief

[John Ashworth]

Eurostar gets French chief as Richard Brown steps down

* Dan Milmo
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 20 August 2009 01.44 BST

Eurostar, the cross-Channel rail service, is to replace its British chief executive with a Frenchman as it prepares for a competitive onslaught next year. Richard Brown will step down in early 2010 and will be replaced by Eurostar's chief operating officer, Nicolas Petrovic. The move comes ahead of the liberalisation of the European rail market in January, which will open up the London-to-Paris high-speed route to competition. Eurostar is also planning to transform its legal status into a single company, which could see the Department for Transport increase its stake, at the expense of France's SNCF.