Eurostar has reported a growth in passenger numbers and revenues in the third quarter of this year.

From July to September, 2.7 million people used the high-speed service, up 5% on the same period in 2012.

Revenue from sales grew by 10% to £207m but the fall in traffic caused by last year’s Olympic Games is being highlighted as a major factor in the positive figures.

Sales revenues from business travellers was also up by 14% year-on-year.

Chief executive Nicolas Petrovic said: “Business traveller volumes have been growing steadily for several months and this quarter’s performance continues that encouraging trend.

“As a bellwether for the health of the wider UK economy, the growing strength of the corporate travel market gives us confidence in the business outlook to the year end.”

The positive figures will boost Eurostar’s ambitions to launch a joint bid for the UK East Coast rail franchise with European transport operator Keolis.

The successful bidder is expected to be awarded a contract in October next year, with the franchise commencing in February 2015.

The company also announced positive figures for its international leisure travel. Connecting traffic to the Lyon, Avignon and Aix-en-Provence region is up by 31% for the year-to-date compared to the same period last year.

Eurostar ran an eight-week trial of direct services to Provenance this summer, boosting leisure travel sales by 9% year on year.

The company has also announced plans to launch a direct service to Amsterdam, set to begin in 2016.

Mr Petrovic added: “We have entered an exciting new chapter in our expansion plans characterised by new routes and new services.

“The addition of Amsterdam to our list of European capital cities will be transformational for our business and the development of international high-speed rail travel across Europe.”