EUROSTAR has revealed that its passenger figures are booming once again -- less than a year since its services were devastated by wintry weather.

The company said part of the recovery can be attributed to the effects of the volcanic ash cloud in the spring, which grounded planes across most of Europe.

The ash, from a volcanic plume in Iceland, meant that thousands of displaced and stranded airline passengers turned to rail, and the effect can be seen on Eurostar passenger figures for the first half of 2010, which reached 4.6 million.

Eurostar provided 70 extra trains during the period in which planes were grounded, and carried an additional 100,000 passengers.

The company's own pre-Christmas crisis, in which its services were completely suspended over the last weekend before the holiday because snow caused several trains to stall in the Channel Tunnel, does not appear to have caused serious or long-lasting damage to its business.

The company has also shrugged off problems in mid-February, when its services to Brussels were cancelled and then diverted, lengthening the journey time, after a serious collision between two Belgian commuter trains blocked the normal high speed route north of Lille.

Chief executive Nicolas Petrovic, who took over from Richard Brown in April when Mr Brown became deputy chairman, believes the outlook continues to look good.

He said: "Over the last six months, we have delivered strong growth in both business and leisure bookings.  As the economic environment has strengthened we have seen an uplift in the business market and an overall increase in the number of passengers travelling.

“While our core routes continue to be busy more and more people are opting to travel further afield and explore new destinations by train.  Forward bookings are looking strong and with the increasing appetite for high speed rail travel in Europe, the trend looks set to continue."

The company has also announced two extra trains between London and Paris on Fridays and Sundays in August, which will be one class only and be available at a standard fare of £69 return.