The chief executive of Eurostar has said that the train operator needs to raise awareness of the company in Scotland.

Speaking to Holyrood, Richard Brown said that such a position was "not unreasonable".

Asked if there was enough awareness of Eurostar in Scotland, he said: "No, frankly. That's not unique to Scotland. I think that's the case in most of Britain, because traditionally, not unreasonably, we've been seen as a London and a South-East option."

He said that the move the company made last November to St Pancras from Waterloo station in London to use the new high-speed line, High Speed 1, would lead to a change.

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"As long as our base was south central London rather than north central London, that was always going to be the case, frankly. We've got quite a lot of work to do to raise the profile and to raise awareness and elsewhere in Britain, [I] fully recognise that."

The move to St Pancras has already seen 50% growth in passengers from Scotland in the first quarter of the year compared to 2007, which also follows the launch of through ticketing from Scottish cities to Eurostar-linked cities in October last year.

Brown added: "Frankly, we can't afford to go out and advertise all over the country, the density of people who might be travelling is too low, but working with [train operating companies], through those through fares, local promotions, local advertising. We will be working over the next year or two to raise that awareness, because it isn't good enough for us at the moment."

(GK/JM)