Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, good morning. Because of the health measures imposed in the context of COVID-19 epidemic and in application of the emergency measures adopted by the French government, we are exceptionally holding this Getlink general meeting behind closed doors, that is, without the physical presence of shareholders and any other participants in order to apply the obvious health precautions. We are within the framework of Order 2020-321 of 25th of March 2020. I would like to warmly thank the shareholders who have spoken and who will follow these presentations on our website. Seeing the number of votes recorded remotely, I'm pleased to see that you have made a point of participating in the deliberations and that you give full support to our company, a great deal of loyalty to our company, which is valuable to us in the coronavirus crisis that we're currently experiencing.
Ladies and gentlemen, I declare the general meeting open. As usual, I will briefly present the formalities for the opening of our general meeting, which I chair and which are recalled on page number three. In accordance with legal and regulatory provisions, your board of directors has notified the shareholders by means of the notice of meeting and the notice to attend the meeting, published in the BALO and in the daily "La Petite Affiche" on the 4th of March and 8th of April 2020, respectively. This ordinary and extraordinary meeting is held on first call. I remind you that in order for it to deliberate validly, it is necessary for the shareholders present or represented to own at least 20% of the shares with voting rights for ordinary resolutions and at least 25% for extraordinary resolutions.
The quorum, the count of which will be confirmed to you at the end of this presentation, shows that the general meeting can validly deliberate. The rate of participation and the result of the votes will be explained at the end, as I have just said. The following item or point has to do with the constitution of the general meeting office. With regard to the latter and in accordance with the legal and regulatory provisions, which I've mentioned earlier, we have as scrutineers the FCPE, the Getlink Collective Investment Fund representative for the group's employees, Mr. Marcel Oudinot, and Mr. Michael Schuller, who is the co-head of Investor Relations Department. These two shareholders agree to be scrutineers. In agreement with them, Mrs. Claire Picot will act as secretary to the bureau office of a general meeting of shareholders.
I confirm that the documents required by law for the proper conduct of the general meeting have been filed and made available to shareholders within the prescribed time limits. In particular, through the company's website in the section dedicated to this general meeting. Finally, I would like to point out the absolutely fundamental presence of our two statutory auditors, Mr. Cherky from KPMG and Mr. Sanchez from Mazars. I now turn to the agenda, which on the following pages four to seven, recalls the ordinary resolutions relating to this agenda, and as is customary, I thank you for dispensing with the need to read it in full. The last important practical information I would like to inform you is that no request for the inclusion of items on the agenda or draft new resolution has been filed by shareholders.
I now suggest that we move to the presentation of the general meeting as chapter page eight does present. This presentation, page nine, will be structured as usual around the financial results. Obviously, we shall be raising the issues of CSR and future perspectives of the company. The financial results of the group in 2019, page 10, are preceded, I think it's useful to mention this in the current context, page 11, by the highlights or key events of the year 2019. The main highlights of 2019, let's recall at the first quarter of 2019, all the aspects which are linked to the Brexit preparation and the fact that we had had some top-level governmental contacts, which were extremely sustained to be fully consistent with the needs of the government.
In spring 2019, this led to this risk of Brexit on the 31st of March, led to a massive strike by French customs officers, which paralyzed massively our activities and those of Eurostar between March and May. We will see later on the financial impact of this later on in the presentation. This has not prevented us from preparing the future and has allowed us to launch a mid-life refurbishment program for passenger shuttles and trusting Bombardier Transport to carry out an important mission, and this is an investment program which is going to take place over seven years. On the 4th of July 2019, we wanted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the tunnel, unveiling a superb artwork by the artist Aiz on the portal wall of the tunnel.
I do remind you that in this perspective, in which we want to use all the competencies of the group, on the 25th of November 2019, we signed a partnership with the French RATP to prepare ourselves for the opening up of regional express trains to competition. Then in December, we were affected again by the SNCF strikes in the context of the social protest against pension reform. In 2020, on the 21st of January 2020, the United Kingdom left the European Union. Until the end of the year 2020, I remind you, and this is particularly important today, that Great Britain is still considered as a member of Europe because it is the transition period. Then, of course, and I will come back to this at the end of the presentation, the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact that this has on our activities.
For this year 2019, page 12, we had very good performance in this hectic and difficult context. The group's revenues is stable, shows the powerful resilience despite the second point, the impact of the strikes around EUR 18 million in our EBITDA, which therefore fell slightly, but in the end, held up very well, which did not prevent us from increasing our net profit by more than 20%. I will come back to these figures in details, they have been known for a long time. It's on page 13. The EBITDA, I mentioned EUR 560 million. The consolidated net result, EUR 159 million, thanks to the cost of net financial debt, I will come back to this, down by 5% to EUR 253 million. That is less than half of EBITDA produced. Page 14.
You have the free cash flow data for the group with an operating cash flow of nearly EUR 600 million, which is quite considerable. The debt service that I mentioned at EUR 250 million, and an investment excluding ElecLink of EUR 105 million. One remark concerning Brexit, we have an agreement with the British government, which has allowed us to collect GBP 11 million in 2019 and another GBP 11 million in 2020. In addition, we have implemented installations on behalf of the French authorities in the region of EUR 13 million, EUR 32.4 million to be exact, for which we've asked the French government to make reimbursements. We've sent a request on the 2nd of December without getting any answer to date. The next video is going to show you the nature of installations which are absolutely crucial for the future of Eurotunnel.
On page 15, I turn to the level of debt, which in the present case, in terms of net financial debt, amounts to EUR 4.241 billion, which is in line with our repayment capacity, given our level of cash production and EBITDA. The average cost of a debt is only of 3.8%. Everybody knows where we come from 15 years ago. Finally, the last observation on the covenants related to the long-term debt is that some people are questioning the impact of the coronavirus. As of today, we have sufficient cash flow in reserve and sufficient cash flow to come to consider that there is no need to open reflections or discussions on the level of covenant. Page 16, I remind you, the key elements that make the success of the Eurotunnel shuttles.
Since 2015, for trucks, thanks to a very good quality work, we have an increase of market share of 315 basis points, which is huge, and it's even better with the passenger, with 430 basis points. The capacity to increase the average yield amounts to more than 3% in 2019. You know that we're on a constant trend of high quality, which means that we do not have any particular concern. The following video will allow you to make the same journey as our freight customers. Page 17. The Eurostar high-speed service was a considerable commercial success in 2019, thanks to the opening of a London-Amsterdam service. Eurostar has exceeded 11 million passengers, which is an absolute record. The long-term potential of its railway activities, of course, is absolutely significant. It's an ecological transport.
It's in the logic of the European Green Deal and the merger between Eurostar and Thalys, which I hope will become a reality, will open up interesting perspectives independently of the contacts that we have made with new operators. I will come back to this.
Slide 18. I recall the revenues and EBITDA of the concession, stability of the turnover, but the important point is the control of the operating costs, which have only progressed by 2%, allowing to produce an EBITDA of EUR 563 million. Slide 19. Speaking of Europorte, excellent profitability. It is perhaps the only rail freight company whose turnover has increased by 4%. Operating costs have slightly increased at EUR 102 million. Europorte has an EBITDA of EUR 24 million and a net result of EUR 1 million. Above all, it is an activity that will also be driven by the environmental concern that is now everyone's concern.
The possibilities of diversification are extremely interesting for Europorte, and I talked about the agreement with the French RATP, and we're here dealing with a set of specialties or trades which are sufficiently varied, so that whatever the impacts of the COVID, we have significant rebound capacities as the small video that follows will show you. On page or slide 20, you have two photos illustrating the Getlink electrical interconnection project. On the left, you have the converter stations, which allow us to switch from alternating current and the French and British domestic networks to cable in direct current, which will be pulled through the railway tunnel. The converter stations are now finished, completed, and I hope to test them this summer. On the right-hand side, you have a gigantic helix, which was built so that the cable that is rolled upon it can be pulled into the tunnel.
At this stage, no budget issue. We just have a question on the expected decision of the IGC so that we can resume pulling work or pulling operations in the tunnel. You know that it has now been three years that this pulling authorization was suspended by the IGC. We have, after many exchanges, presented a full submission dossier on the 12th of September 2019. The IGC asked us to redraft it, rewrite it in a different order or format, which we did. In short, in early January 2020, the IGC said that it was able to take a decision on the 23rd of April 2020, that is last week, which was not the case because the IGC told us that due to the difficulties to organize binational meetings related to the COVID-19 situation, it was not able to keep this particular deadline and have no new timescales yet.
Two comments. For years to take a decision, it's not surprising because when Deutsche Bahn wanted to open a railway service between London and Cologne in Germany, we were directly in the strictly railway field with a leading European operator, the IGC took three years to grant to Deutsche Bahn its railway safety certificate. As far as we're concerned, we've been following closely the European method of this type of project, which is the common security method, allowing to verify that this direct current cable, which moreover provides infinity less electromagnetic disturbances than the 25 kV catenary currently in the tunnel, could be installed safely without difficulty and complete security, which is confirmed by the independent expert selected by the common safety method.
Despite this, the IGC, as I've just mentioned, is taking its time, but I hope that we will soon have a decision enabling us to restart this project, the interest of which, in terms of energy transition, is recognized by all the French, British, and European authorities. I now move page 21 to governance and more precisely page 22 on the separation of functions, which you will recall, last year, I wanted it to take effect as of the 1st of July 2020. With a process carried out in a very precise way by the Nomination Committee and the Board of Directors, we have chosen as future Chief Executive Officer Yann Leriche, who will introduce himself in the following video.
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Page 23. I now raise the issue of the renewal of the board of directors, and I would like to pay a special tribute to Mrs. Colette Neuville, who today completes her term of office as director after 12 years of intense and dedicated work, and I dare say, fervent support for the company and the board of directors has asked me to publicly thank her for her very useful contribution to all our work. As far as this board of directors is concerned, we have, thanks to a nomination committee chaired by Perrette Rey, we have committed a progressive or staggered renewal of mandates or terms of office while keeping three essential data. First, a high level of independence of directors, a very strong internationalization, and an almost ideal male-female parity.
Concretely, page 24, resolution five will propose you ratify the co-optation of Mr. Guenzi as director to replace Mr. Castellucci, who has left the board and resigned. We will propose a gradual renewal of four directors to the board of directors, which are absolutely paramount to the functioning of a board of directors, and resolutions 10 and 11 will ask you to approve the election of two new directors to replace Mrs. Colette Neuville. We appoint Mr. Jean-Marc Janaillac, who will also be introduced by video, which is coming and at the end of September 2020 by Mrs. Sharon Flood in the placement of Mr. Philippe Vasseur. I now let you watch these two videos where our two future directors say how happy they are to join us.
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Good morning. My name is Sharon Flood. I am 54, married with a 19-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter. I am a dual British Irish citizen and currently live and work primarily in the U.K. I'm delighted to be proposed by the Getlink board for election to their board at the next AGM. I have a deep interest in the infrastructure sector and have lived, studied, and worked in France at various points in my career. I'm pleased to be able to use these experiences for the benefit of Getlink. I'm a graduate in mathematics from the University of Bath, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, and was lucky enough to study for a year at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, where I gained an MBA with distinction.
My career has covered a number of finance and strategy roles, starting with Unilever in the U.K., where I held finance and operational roles. I joined OC&C Strategy Consultants, working on a number of consumer-oriented projects before joining Kingfisher as head of strategy for B&Q, their DIY business. I was fortunate to work there during the merger with Castorama, helping the leading European business in the sector, which built my understanding of working across European borders. During this time, I was also responsible for the highly successful acquisition of Screwfix. In 2005, I was appointed finance director for John Lewis department stores, the U.K.'s leading department store group, which has a unique employee ownership structure. I had the privilege of being part of the team building one of the most successful multi-channel retail businesses in the U.K.
Since leaving John Lewis, I spent two years as an operating partner at Sun European Partners, leading private equity turnarounds in businesses across Europe. I then moved into a plural career as a board director with two initial roles, spending four years as [Non-English content] for S.T. Dupont, a much-loved French luxury goods business. Director of Network Rail, the owner of the U.K.'s rail infrastructure. These two roles bring great experience for the appointment at Getlink. At Network Rail, I've chaired both their audit and treasury committees. More recently, I've also established and chaired a board committee focused on environmental sustainability, and I'm working with the team to establish a clear strategy on climate change and other environmental issues before I stand down after my second term in August 2020.
I also have the pleasure of serving on two other FTSE 250 boards: Crest Nicholson, a leading house builder, and Pets at Home, a pet care business covering both retail and veterinary services. I have a long history of not-for-profit work. Having lived in India, I helped establish and run an educational charity supporting projects on the Indian subcontinent. I spent six years on the board of Shelter, the U.K.'s leading charity tackling homelessness. I'm currently a charity of the Science Museum Group and a trustee of Cambridge University. I'm particularly excited to be considered for the Getlink board as it allows me to combine so many of my experiences and passions. Working between the U.K. and France allows me to reinforce my knowledge of the special bond between our countries.
I am pleased about the role that Eurotunnel can play in addressing climate change by providing the most sustainable way of transport between the U.K. and mainland Europe. Combined with ElecLink's potential to optimize energy supplies and the opportunity to manage freight in a sustainable way, I feel sure that serving on the Getlink board will be a stimulating experience to which I hope to bring relevant insight. I look forward to having the opportunity to meet Getlink's employees, shareholders, and stakeholders in the near future. Thank you for your time.
Page 25, I now raise the issue of the remuneration of corporate officers. As you know, there are the export and ex-ante voting mechanisms, which are in line with the best recommendations of the AFEP-MEDEF codes and the Sapin II law. It is based on simplicity, transparency, and stability.
There's nothing new in this. You will allow me to talk quite briefly about this since this is all well-known, made public as well, and I'm sure you've had plenty of time to read it. On page 26, you have the details of my own remuneration for the 2019 financial year. On the left-hand side of the slide, you have the list of everything that I don't have. In the middle of the page, you have the breakdown of the objectives which are set for me in terms of performance. On the right-hand side, you have the result of these performances. Same thing for the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, page seven. You know that Mr. François Gauthey left his mandate as Deputy Chief Executive on the 15th of March 2020.
Resolution number 16, which is explained on page 28, gives my remuneration as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for the first half of 2020 with, here again, the breakdown of the variable remuneration and of course, the fact that I have no longer any long-term remuneration in 2020, since I will be leaving my executive function on the 30th of June 2020. As Chairman of the Board of Directors for the second half of the year 2020, page 29, with the objective of ensuring the best liaison or link with the new Chief Executive Officer, you have in resolution 17 the elements of the ex-ante vote for the second half of the year 2020. Page 30, you have the details of the remuneration of the Chief Executive Officer for the second half of the year 2020.
On the right-hand side, you have everything he doesn't have in accordance with the very strict and rigorous policy of the company. On the rest of this page, you have the breakdown between the fixed remuneration, the salary part, the variable remuneration component, and the long-term incentive part of remuneration, which I will comment in greater details on page 31. It will be resolution number 18. Mr. Yann Leriche will receive a fixed annual remuneration of EUR 400,000 with a variable remuneration of up to 100% of the fixed salary with some EBITDA criteria, net results, ElecLink, its integration into the company, and of course, the CSR index, which is very important to continue to ensure continuity on these subjects, on which I will come back later on. Page 32, you have in resolutions 20 and 21, the reminder of a long-term incenting plan set up in the company, LTI.
Firstly, with a collective and equal egalitarian plan for the allocation of free shares to group employees, up to a maximum of 462,500 shares. The incentive program for the main leaders of a group, which only amounts to 265,000 ordinary shares. That is less than for the collective one in view of its concentrations on the key stakeholders in the company with the same levers as in previous years. That is to say, in particular, the stock market performance of a share, the performance in terms of EBITDA, and the CSR performance. Page 33
A reminder on the dividend policy with a decision which was very difficult to take and which is very, very painful. The fact that the board of directors decided to exceptionally cancel the payment of a dividend for 2019. Not because we didn't have the financial means to do so, but because in the current context of uncertainty, it seemed wise to do so, having, of course, the possibility to keep the capacity to distribute an interim dividend at the end of this year, depending on the lifting of lockdown procedures in the countries which are particularly interesting for us. I can confirm that the group's intention is to resume as soon as possible a dividend distribution policy that continues to grow. Reminding you that since the first dividend in 2008, we have distributed in total 1.2 billion EUR to you, shareholders.
I now turn, and this is on page 44, as it is announced, I give the floor to our statutory auditors who are going to give us their usual opinion on the various elements I have presented to you. Gentlemen, you have the floor.
Thank you, Chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders. On behalf of the College of Statutory Auditors, I present to you the reports we have drawn up for you for the financial year ended 31st December 2019. These reports are as follows. Our report on the annual financial statements, our report on the consolidated financial statements, our special report on regulated agreements, our report on the share capital operations provided for in Resolutions 20- 23 on which you are invited to vote.
In addition, the KPMG, as an independent third party, has issued a report on the extra-financial performance statement included in the group's management report. These reports are detailed in the documents that have been made available to you. I will now summarize the contents of these reports. In our report dated 26th of February 2020 on the annual financial statements for the financial year ended December 31st, 2019, presented in accordance with the French standards and set out on pages 96- 98 of the 2019 universal registration document, and in our report dated 26th of February 2020 on the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31st of 2019, presented in accordance with the IFRS standards as adopted in the European Union and set out on pages 41- 44 on the 2019 universal registration document. We present the characteristics of our missions.
We confirm that they have been carried out in compliance with independence rules applicable to us. We recall the respective responsibilities of the company's management and governance, and of the statutory auditors with respect to the consolidated and annual financial statements, respectively. We issue an opinion without reservation on the annual and consolidated financial statements. In these two reports, we have justified our assessments by bringing to your attention the key points of the audit relating to the risk of material misstatement, which, in our professional judgment, were the most important for the 2019 audit, as well as the responses we made to these risks. With regard to the consolidated financial statements, the key points of the audit concerned the recoverable value of the Getlink fixed assets, the recoverable value of the concessions fixed assets, the accounting treatment of financial debts.
With regard to the annual financial statements, the key point of the audit was the valuation of equity investments and intra-group receivables. Our work consisted in particular for these key points of the audit in assessing the approach adopted by the company and in ensuring the reasonableness of the significant estimates made and the appropriateness of related information in the notes or annex to the financial statements. Finally, in these two reports, we confirm that we've made the specific verifications required by law, and we have no observations to make. In our report on the consolidated financial statements, we have certified that the consolidated statement of extra-financial performance required by the French Commercial Code is included in the group's management report, and that we have also certified the information relating to remuneration, benefits, and commitments in favor of executive officers.
In our special report on regulated agreements dated 26th of February 2020, appearing on pages 195 and 196 of the 2019 universal registration document, we indicate in the first part, with respect to the agreements submitted to the approval of a general meeting, that we have not been advised of any new agreements. In the second part, with respect to the agreements that have already been submitted for the approval of your shareholders' meeting and which remained in force during the financial year 2019, we have not been advised of any agreements that have already been approved and which remained in force during the financial year 2019.
With regard to the extra-financial performance statements in the report of the independent third-party organization appearing on pages 258- 268 of the 2019 universal registration document, the latter confirms that it has not identified any significant anomaly regarding the compliance of the consolidated extra-financial performance statement with the regulatory provisions in force. Finally, with regard to capital transactions, we issued reports on the 21st of April 2020 on the delegations and authorizations to be given to the Board of Directors to carry out the following transactions. Authorizations to make a free allotment of shares to all employees of the company, except to members of the management. Resolution 20, authorizations to grant existing or future ordinary shares to employees and/or executive officers of the group. Resolution 21, reduction of the share capital of a company by canceling treasury shares.
Resolution 2022, capital increases with withdrawal of a shareholder's preferential right of subscription by the issue of ordinary shares or transferable securities reserved to the employees who signed up to a company savings plan. That is Resolution 23. As the final terms and conditions of this capital increase have not been set, we do not express any opinion on this capital increase, and consequently, on the proposed cancellation of a preference or subscription right made to you under this resolution. We'll prepare an additional report if necessary when the board of directors makes use of this delegation. We thank you for your attention.
Thank you, Mr. Cherky. Thank you very much for this proposal on behalf of the College of Statutory Auditors, and thank you for the high quality of your work, the work that you do for us and which is absolutely indispensable to us.
Ladies and gentlemen, I now would like to mention the perspectives of the group because we have, and we're quite certain, we have capacities to achieve even more great things, thanks to fundamentals of the group. On page 42, I would like to come back on the development of rail traffic. Two aspects are particularly important. You may recall that back in 2019, there was a protest movement coming from Sweden against short distance flight connections in the European environment. Today, unfortunately, in view of the coronavirus crisis that I cannot say I'm happy with, we see that air transport is deeply affected and that it will need quite a long time to recover. There is therefore for us, at the level of the European railway high-speed network, a possibility which is extremely interesting, possible development, and we are working on it.
In particular, this is the second point, thanks to our capacity to get infrastructure managers to work together. The real issue in relation to a railway service or link is to find in the different networks used by the operator some time slots which are compatible and relevant. We started this work. It is the one which has allowed us to open the service London, Amsterdam, and we continue with our perspectives, and we hope that in the context of the European Green Deal, there will be a massive support to the development in the countries which are particularly relevant to us of the new European signaling system called ERTMS, which allows to increase, in a considerable way, the capacity and safety of railway flows.
We are in contact, as I have already mentioned, and I do confirm, with a large number of operators who are ready to derive profit from this renewed interest for the railway compared to the air transport. In this context, as I recalled, the incredible situation of Deutsche Bahn which 10 years ago took three years to obtain a railway safety certificate, which, in view of the hassles they had to face, as we also face today with the situation of ElecLink, had finally renounced to do it. We are working on the implementation of new authorization rules for passenger equipment in the Channel Tunnel, which corresponds to new services in line with the European prescriptions called TSIs, which take into account our competence and capacity acquired all throughout the 26 years of operations in the Channel Tunnel. It's a very time-consuming work, but we're determined to achieve it.
We don't forget railway freight, which also represents interesting capacities in terms of development. In this context, we are currently finalizing a negotiation with the British government to take over the exit of the tunnel located at Dollands Moor so that we could have an entrance at Fréthun and an exit at Dollands Moor and vice versa, which can be managed in a smart and of course, performing way in view of the use of the tunnel, and this, why not, in the perspective of the rail motorway. It is something that the British government supports in an extremely relevant way. Slide 43 recalls the commitments which are ours in terms of CSR performance. Of course, I've already mentioned, there is customer service, which level of satisfaction, which is extremely high, and for which we want to keep on improving.
We have, and I will come back to this, some extremely remarkable results in terms of environment protection. We are not outside the real world, and we work intensely to help partnerships around our installations for the benefit of all. We are, of course, particularly careful about social aspects. We have signed recently a group gender equality charter unanimously approved by, of course, trade union organizations, and we wish to continue to decrease work-related accidents, which have a frequency rate today which has significantly improved itself. I've also mentioned the separation of functions, which is an issue which is particularly appreciated by Anglo-Saxon investors. The environmental performance of the group, I would like, if you do allow me, to summarize it through the following video. Page 44. Let me come back on the reduction of CO2 emissions, carbon-based gases, greenhouse effect gases.
In order to assess our results, which is a reduction by 33% of our emissions, we need to bear in mind that at the same time, the revenue of the group, that is to say, traffic increased by 28%. Therefore, if you combine the two figures, you end up with an absolutely remarkable result. You have in the right-hand side section of the slide, the details of all the actions that we implement. Far from lyrical musings, you know that we are absolutely concrete. We work small dossier per small dossier, step by step, and this allows us to end up with remarkable results, and which have been certified for a long time, and we are the only ones on the cross-channel segment which have their results certified by the best international organizations.
On page 45, we've also worked on the basis of the risk of climate change on a low-carbon economy concept as this is the dedicated terminology to be used. I think we're well prepared to follow recommendations in this field. I'd like to remind you that we were the first on the market to implement charging points for electric vehicles at both extremities of a tunnel. This resulted in 12,000 customers which have used these facilities in 2029. We have many other projects in progress. A new report for rail freight also has some capacities in the context of a rail freight recovery to move forward in this field.
Page 46, we are mentioning the reduction in industrial waste production, whether hazardous or non-hazardous, with, of course, a significant reduction which has to be offsetted against the increase of the activity, and in terms of waste recycling rate, we come to an absolutely acceptable rate of 94.4%. Once again, it is day-to-day work. It has to do with awareness of staff. It's not visible work. Of course, results are visible. Page 47, we are mentioning our biodiversity dimension. We are reducing the amount of water taken from the public networks and from the natural environment in order to maintain the cooling of the Channel Tunnel. You know that we have a nature reserve of Samphire Hoe, which has just received its 14th Green Flag Award.
It shows that it's something huge, very important, which is, by the way accessible to the general public, and we in France work on eco-pasture on plots of lands which are available to us. Therefore, we are improving carefully, and we use in a very careful way all our capacities to improve our indicators. Page 48. To come back on this issue of climate change, we are perfectly aware of this. We want to be part of the national or international policies which were raised by the public authorities. This goes with strong organizations in the CSR and environment department, in which we have recruited high-level directors. It has to do with structuring of climate reporting and a set of concrete actions in order to face climate change.
You have in the blue section of page 48, the motto, I would say, the statement, the commitment of a board of directors on this policy in favor of the fight against global warming. Let me mention page 49, an issue which is particularly painful that we are all experiencing today, which is the COVID-19 pandemic and the way according to which we manage it. First, I would like to recall that our customers being international, we have been aware of the need to take lockdown measures as early as the 9th of March, as soon as Italy did so, and well before France, and well before the United Kingdom.
This has allowed us, while being fully aware of what this represented, this has allowed us to commit very rapidly, a very close collaboration with both the French and British authorities to deliver an adapted service, and above all, to implement both of the protection of our workforce and protection of our customers, everything we could implement with installation of hand sanitizing dispensers in buildings, onboard shuttles, a reminder of a protection protocol and social distancing. We have also, of course, strengthened cleaning operation and disinfections. We have implemented a work organization which is adapted. Having understood what Italy on the 9th of March and Spain on the 15th of March were deciding before the lockdown measure in France, we have switched as early as this to remote working facilities for support services.
In a nutshell, we've been among the first operators to react in a significant manner, an important manner to the situation, which is extremely difficult. Page 50, you have, for example, the quantity of hydroalcoholic gel or sanitizing gels that we have used so far, the number of masks that we have purchased, and that we are currently renewing thanks to some orders that we have launched in China, but not only at the international level, number of gloves distributed. I think the most simple thing to do is to show you for lorry drivers the measures we have implemented against COVID-19 through the video which follows. Page 51, I come back on two particularly important issues in the context of the management of this COVID-19 crisis. First of all, I think we need to continue to strengthen our commercial activities.
We have, obviously, for passenger shuttles, when borders are open, passengers who do remain onboard their vehicles, it is extremely reassuring for them, and I think it will probably be an extremely strong sales argument when borders are reopened to attract maybe new passenger customers. For lorry drivers who, as you may know, had no access to showers and toilet facilities, we have provided free access to showers and toilet facilities to them. We have installed these facilities. We are providing them with a snack pack and give them a EUR 8, GBP 8 voucher to use in France and the U.K. to complement their meals or elements that they need. It goes without saying that this success has allowed us to maintain a very good level of freight traffic and to even witness an increase in figures. We have obviously largely communicated with lorry drivers and hauliers.
In general, for the whole of services and operations, we have adapted our services and work processes to take into account COVID. It's very simple. This was carried out for a staggering of working hours and rotations so that people don't meet. We have reduced the number of vehicles and their movements. We have postponed, in the interest of savings, all the investments which were neither linked to safety nor to urgency. We have taken a very courageous decision to reduce the capacity or load factor of our freight shuttles from 32 trucks- 24 trucks, so that there is more space between lorry drivers in the club car, which is the rail wagon, which is meant to transport them. We have multiplied collection buses to make sure that there aren't too many people on board those collection buses.
In view of a virtual disappearance of the passenger traffic, we have innovated, putting into service as of the 23rd of April, only half of one passenger shuttle. You know that a shuttle passenger is 800 meters long, that it has 400 meters of single deck at a very high height for coaches, and then behind a second half double deck shuttle where vehicles are parked on two floors on two decks. We only run the single deck wagon, which is 400 meters long. It is less costly in terms of operating costs, maintenance, and energy costs. We have worked in a very determined way, on the basis of a cost reduction schemes without putting at risk neither quality of service nor safety, which is absolutely fundamental.
Slide 52 recalls the traffic figures of the first quarter 2020 with a decrease of both truck and passenger traffics, as well as Eurostar and freight trains. I recall after our first international impact of a lockdown as early as the Italian measure of early March. Therefore, these figures are to be considered with a March impact after months of January and February, which were particularly good. I raise a second essential issue for cost reduction and the adaptation of our organization. It is the impact of the implementation of part-time working for 2,200 employees of the group in France. That is 300 employees on furlough in the U.K. In France, as the word indicates, it is partial unemployment. In the U.K., it's the all or none principle. Either the employee works or he or she stops working completely.
This is the reason why this figure of 300 can't be compared to 2,239. Managers were not submitted to part-time working. I voluntarily decreased the remuneration by 10% as of the 1st of April, and I think we can praise their decision. I have myself announced that I was reducing my remuneration as of the 1st of April by 25%, and I am pleased to say that the board of directors expressed its solidarity because the directors have decided as of the 1st of April to reduce their monthly attendance fees by 10%. All this to say that the company is fully mobilized to face this particular difficult crisis. You have on the right-hand side the total revenue of the group in the first quarter with a breakdown between Eurotunnel and Europorte.
Eurotunnel is not decreasing its performance much because it is an infrastructure which is particularly useful and it is, by the way, mentioned. Europorte had been impacted and affected by the strikes of a pension reform of the SNCF from the 1st- 25th of January. This was quite a strong impact. This is not what I wanted to mention. I wanted to say that Europorte has run specific trains which were not part of its work program to transport 250,000 tons of benzene, which is, as we all know, the fundamental ingredient or product for the making of hydroalcoholic gels. Therefore, this is another interesting aspect of Europorte, these additional trains which run in this context. I would conclude by saying, I remind you and confirm that we have no difficulty with our financial situation.
We have taken cash flow preservation measures or protection measures for our cash flow, and we have enough or a good level of liquidity, which enables us to face with no difficulty the reimbursements of the debt. There's no hesitation on this. The capital reimbursement is of only EUR 53 million this year. We have great teams that I would like to publicly congratulate here today because they have adapted to the crisis with agility, speed, and determination. These teams are fully dedicated to be in a capacity to benefit from a recovery plan should it present itself, and as soon as it should present itself. We have an economic model, which is extremely solid and robust. We are fully in line with the expectations of populations in terms of social and health protections and environment preservation.
We obviously ensure a mission of public service between Europe and Great Britain. This will continue in the future. We are a benchmark player in the field of eco-responsible transport. From slide 54 onwards, you will have on the website of the group on the page dedicated to the general meeting, the result of a number of voters and the results of votes per resolution. You shall see that once again, you've massively supported the company. I do thank you for this. I hope that this presentation, which was very specific, has met your expectations. I'm sorry for the possible difficulties or errors in diction that I might have made in this presentation because it is true contact with you, direct contact with you in a room with you shareholders is something that I miss.
We work together for the benefit of this company, and we've been doing so for many years now. Results are there, and we all face an absolutely exceptional, unknown crisis with no reference. What I can assure you is that we organize ourselves to get through it as best as possible, and that we shall be there performing efficiently as soon as we recover of the path towards activity and shall certainly be among those who shall reap the best benefits of this situation. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, thank you for accepting this presentation behind closed doors. Thank you for your support, and I hope to see you very, very soon. Thank you very much, and I now officially close this General Meeting 2020. Thank you.