A trio of Paralympic athletes visited Eurostar, the official carrier of the French and the Belgian Paralympic teams, at its East London depot yesterday to reveal the modifications being made to the Eurostar services carrying athletes to the London 2012 Paralympic Games this summer.
The modifications will allow the trains to carry up to 18 wheelchair users and other Paralympic athletes who have special travel needs.
Britain F57 javelin world champion and world record, Nathan Stephens; Belgium’s top Paralympic wheelchair tennis player, Annick Sevenans; and France’s leading Paralympic fencing champion, Moez el Assine were among the first to visit the depot.
Over the summer, Eurostar will carry the majority of the French Paralympians including the blind football, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball teams to London on a specially chartered service on August 25 and then again on their celebratory homecoming journey to Paris on the September 10.
Eurostar chief executive Nicolas Petrovic said: “We are extremely proud to be able to carry the Paralympic teams from the continent to the London 2012 Paralympic Games this summer. It’s a great testament to the way that we, the infrastructure providers and the French and Belgian Paralympic committees have worked together as a team.
“The London 2012 Paralympic Games are set to be the most successful and inspiring to date.”
