Eurostar has played down media coverage about a government report warning about possible disruption and queues of 15,000 people a day if no deal is reached over Brexit.
The Financial Times claimed the Department for Transport report said the worst-case scenario, with longer checks on passengers, could see daily queues stretching for almost a mile from St Pancras station to Warren Street underground station.
A source told the FT that Eurostar has warned the government that if the UK crashes out of the European Union without a deal on March 29, the company could only survive for six to 12 weeks.
However, a Eurostar spokesperson said in a statement: “The scenario presented is extremely misleading and speculative.
“It assumes a worst-case situation and then assumes that neither Eurostar, nor the governments undertake any action to mitigate the impact.
“In fact, Eurostar has been working extensively with our station partners, governments and control authorities on both sides of the Channel to ensure that robust plans are in place to protect services and to manage customer flows effectively.
“We have firm plans in place for a range of potential scenarios to ensure that we can maintain our service even in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.”
Eurostar operates high-speed passenger trains from St Pancras International, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International to Paris, Lille, Brussels, Calais, and Disneyland Paris.
It is a different company to Eurotunnel, which operates Le Shuttle from Folkestone to Calais.
Yesterday (February 21) Eurotunnel parent company Getlink said it was prepared for Brexit.
Jacques Gounon, chairman and chief executive, said: “The group is focusing on Brexit from a solid foundation in order to provide our customers with the best possible service whilst increasing our competitiveness.”
However, the company admitted: “The current political situation, particularly in the United Kingdom, is likely to generate uncertainty about the short-term impact of the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union on March 29, 2019.
“The group considers that this uncertainty is likely to affect its activity in the first weeks following this date.”