Railteam, the alliance of European high-speed rail operators, has shelved plans for a Europe-wide common booking system because of increasing costs.
The system would have allowed customers to book tickets for Europe-wide rail journeys in a single transaction.
The platform was due to be unveiled this year, but has been scrapped for the foreseeable future, according to Eurostar.
Railteam’s other members include Thalys, SNCF and Deutsche Bahn.
“All seven high-speed operators thought the platform would be a good idea but once we started looking at the system in detail we realised that it would be very complicated and therefore extremely expensive.” said Lesley Retallack from Eurostar.
At present, although travellers can book some Europe-wide tickets through the individual websites of Railteam’s members, passengers often receive more than one ticket for journeys onward from the carriers’ normal routes.
The new system would have created a one-stop-shop for tickets for complete high-speed journeys across Europe.

US shares have fallen on worries about Dubai’s debt problems, with the Dow Jones ending down 154 points, or 1.5%, at 10,309.92, in a shorter trading day.
It was the first chance for markets in the US to react to news that state-owned Dubai World had asked for more time to repay its debts.
US markets were closed for a holiday on Thursday when other world markets suffered steep losses.
However, the main European markets recovered from earlier falls.
The main share indexes in the UK, France and Germany had all fallen by more than 3% on Thursday. But after falling further in early trade on Friday, the UK’s FTSE 100 closed up 1%, and both Germany’s Dax index and France’s Cac 40 ended more than 1% higher.
Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei index had closed down 3.2% and the Hong Kong Hang Seng ended 4.8% lower.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the fall in the markets as a “setback” but said it was “not on the scale of previous problems”.
“The world financial system is stronger now and able to deal with the problems that arise,” he told reporters on his way to a Commonwealth leaders summit.
Dubai World is the centrepiece of the Gulf state’s economy.
Sources close to the company have suggested that various refinancing options have been on the table for at least a month, although details have not been revealed until now.
A six-month suspension on interest payments is believed to be the most likely option.
David Buik, senior partner at BGC Partners, said: “You can’t just say to the world: ‘I don’t want to pay my debts’. There is no income coming in from any of these properties. I think this is shocking PR.”
The news shook markets that are recovering from the collapse of the US housing market and contagion that threatened to rupture the global financial system last year.

US shares have fallen on worries about Dubai’s debt problems, with the Dow Jones ending down 154 points, or 1.5%, at 10,309.92, in a shorter trading day.
It was the first chance for markets in the US to react to news that state-owned Dubai World had asked for more time to repay its debts.
US markets were closed for a holiday on Thursday when other world markets suffered steep losses.
However, the main European markets recovered from earlier falls.
The main share indexes in the UK, France and Germany had all fallen by more than 3% on Thursday. But after falling further in early trade on Friday, the UK’s FTSE 100 closed up 1%, and both Germany’s Dax index and France’s Cac 40 ended more than 1% higher.
Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei index had closed down 3.2% and the Hong Kong Hang Seng ended 4.8% lower.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the fall in the markets as a “setback” but said it was “not on the scale of previous problems”.
“The world financial system is stronger now and able to deal with the problems that arise,” he told reporters on his way to a Commonwealth leaders summit.
Dubai World is the centrepiece of the Gulf state’s economy.
Sources close to the company have suggested that various refinancing options have been on the table for at least a month, although details have not been revealed until now.
A six-month suspension on interest payments is believed to be the most likely option.
David Buik, senior partner at BGC Partners, said: “You can’t just say to the world: ‘I don’t want to pay my debts’. There is no income coming in from any of these properties. I think this is shocking PR.”
The news shook markets that are recovering from the collapse of the US housing market and contagion that threatened to rupture the global financial system last year.

A day out being offered as a raffle prize to prisoners at a Lancashire jail has
been withdrawn after the governor revealed he knew nothing about it.
Inmates at HMP Kirkham, an open prison, can enter the competition for ￡1 if they
help make a Christmas lunch for elderly people at a nearby day centre.
Earlier the Prison Service said the winner would get a “single town visit”.
But the jail later withdrew the prize and admitted the governor “was not aware” of
it.
A spokesman for the Prison Service said: “The governor will consider an
appropriate prize for the draw in due course.
“He was not aware that a town visit was being offered as a prize and it has been
withdrawn.”
Prison chiefs refused to say who had been behind the prize, which they claimed was
designed to encourage good behaviour.
Inmates in open prisons are allowed out unsupervised, but each case is
individually assessed, the prison service said.
Prisoners entering the raffle will help out at Milbanke Day Centre, in Kirkham.
A Prison Service spokesman said: “Public protection is our top priority and the
rehabilitation of offenders is a vital part of this process.
“All prisoners are rigorously risk assessed before release on temporary licence
and no prisoners are released if there are concerns for public safety.”
HMP Kirkham is a category D training prison with a capacity for 590 prisoners.

A man has gone on trial accused of involvement in a drug deal worth more than
￡33m after police seized 13 boxes of heroin from cars in Kent.
The boxes, seized at a motorway service station near Maidstone in April 2008,
contained heroin weighing nearly 730lb (330kg), Kingston Crown Court heard.
Abdul Matalib Shammin Rob, 30, from Ilford, east London, denies conspiracy to
supply a controlled drug.
He is alleged to have conspired to supply contents of three of the boxes.
Prosecutors allege mobile phone evidence links Mr Rob to others involved in the
plan.
Three other men are awaiting sentencing for their involvement in the case.
Patrick Kuster, 36, from the Netherlands, and Harminder Chana, 32, of east London
were convicted at a trial earlier this year, while Atif Khan, 34, of east London,
pleaded guilty.

A man has appeared in court in the US state of Massachusetts accused of locking
his two sons in the boot of his car while he visited a sailing shop.
Fall River police say that Michael Monahan left the children alone in the Pontiac
Trans Am for several minutes.
He told investigators the children, aged three and six, enjoyed “playing” in
there, court records show.
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault and reckless endangerment of a
child and was released on bail.
The children are now in the custody of their mother.
The boys were spotted in the boot by a man who works in the sailing shop.
He later called the police who tracked down the family.
Mr Monahan’s lawyer told the Fall River District Court judge that the 35-year-old
loved his children.
Referring to his client, his lawyer said: “He’s extremely distraught about this
your honour.”
Mr Monahan is due to reappear in court on 19 January.

A CIA manual instructing US agents on the use of magic tricks during the Cold War
has gone on sale.
It was written in 1953 by magician John Mulholland for a fee of $3,000 (￡1,800) –
considerable at the time.
It includes deceptions such as spiking drinks, pocketing small objects and tying
shoelaces to communicate in code.
The CIA ordered copies destroyed in the 1970s, but one survived. It has been
republished as The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception.
The material – now unclassified – was uncovered by espionage historian Keith
Melton, and Bob Wallace, a former CIA director.
Among several deceptions detailed in the book, it instructs spies on how to tie
their shoelaces to signal other spies – “I have information”, “Follow me”, or “I
have brought another person”.
It also shows operatives how to conceal a doping pill in a matchbook, then
covertly drop it into a person’s drink while distracting them by lighting their
cigarette.
In the foreword, deputy CIA director John McLaughlin writes that “magic and
espionage are kindred spirits”.
“Mulholland’s writing on delivery of pills, potions and powders was just one
example of research carried out back then in fields as diverse as brainwashing and
paranormal psychology,” he writes.
The guide was part of a larger CIA programme, called Project MK-Ultra, aimed at
countering the Soviet mind-control techniques of the Cold War era.
But Mr McLaughlin says that to the best of his knowledge, the drink-spiking
techniques “were never actually used”.

A French national has been kidnapped in the north-eastern Mali town of Menaka by
gunmen, officials say.
Pierre Kamatte, 61, was said to have been taken from outside his hotel on
Wednesday.
The UK recently warned its nationals not to visit northern Mali because of the
threat of attack by the North African branch of al-Qaeda.
The group has seized several Westerners for ransom in recent months – sometimes
kidnapping them in foreign countries.
Mr Kamatte was reportedly conducting research into malaria when he was seized.
In a statement, the French foreign ministry warned its citizens of the risk of
kidnapping in the region and urged those travelling outside of the capital Bamako
to be “extra vigilant”.
French embassy staff are working towards the release of Mr Kamatte.
The president of a town-twinning friendship organisation, he is reported to split
his time between Mali and France.
In June British tourist Edwin Dyer was killed in Mali by militants. He had been
kidnapped in Niger six months earlier close to the border with Mali.
Last month the US said it was preparing to give Mali’s army millions of dollars
worth of military hardware to help them fight al-Qaeda’s North African branch.

The last remaining population of Siberian tigers has declined significantly, according to research.
The work was carried out by the Siberian Tiger Monitoring Programme, which is coordinated by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
Its report says that tiger numbers have shown a “declining trend” over the last four years, and the latest assessment counted just 56 of the animals.
The researchers attribute the decline to poaching and habitat loss.
The organisation carries out annual tiger surveys at 16 monitoring sites scattered across the tigers’ range.
The scientists did point out that deep snows during the last winter may have forced tigers to reduce the amount they travelled, making them less active and therefore less detectable
But, in 2005, the total number of Siberian tigers across their entire range was estimated at approximately 500 individuals. This recovered from fewer than 30 animals in the late 1940s.
“The sobering results are a wake-up call that current conservation efforts are not going far enough to protect Siberian tigers,” said Dr Dale Miquelle a researcher from the WCS’s Russian Far East Program.
“The good news is that we believe this trend can be reversed if immediate action is taken.”
Russian scientists and conservation organisations are now recommending changes in law enforcement regulations, improvements in habitat protection, and a strengthening of the protected areas network to help protect the tigers.

The UK’s banks should be forced to publicly disclose the number of their employees who earn more than ￡1m per year, a report has concluded.
That is one of the main findings of the government-commissioned Walker Review into the corporate governance of banks.
Sir David Walker, who led the report, also said non-executive directors needed more power to monitor banks’ risk taking and pay deals.
The government said it would now move to implement Sir David’s proposals.
Specifically, it is to include his call for banks to have to disclose how many staff earn more than ￡1m in its Financial Services Bill, which was first unveiled in last week’s Queen’s Speech.
This Bill is also planning to give the City watchdog – the Financial Services Authority (FSA) – the power to curb any pay deals in the banking sector that it finds to be excessive.
And under new FSA rules coming into force on 1 January, banks will have to limit the minimum bonus deals of senior staff to just one year.
These new guidelines will also call on banks to claw back a person’s bonuses in the result of poor performance.
In addition the new FSA guidelines say senior executives should have between 40% and 60% of their bonus payments deferred over three years, with at least 50% paid in shares.
The final report of the Walker Review also says that large institutional investors should be more active in monitoring the banks.
In addition, it calls for:
? A bank’s remuneration committee should have direct responsibility for the pay of all high-paid employees
? Board-level risk committees chaired by a non-executive. (Non-executive directors are appointed from outside a company to sit on its board and scrutinise its performance)
? Risk committees to have power to scrutinise and if necessary block big transactions
? Chairman of remuneration committee to face re-election if annual report gets less than 75% approval
? Non-executive directors to spend up to 50% more time on the job
? Chairman of the board to face annual re-election.
“The fundamental change needed is to make the boardroom a more challenging environment than it has often been in the past,” said Sir David.
“This requires non-executives able to devote sufficient time to the role in order to assess risk and ask tough questions about strategy.”