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14/11/2007
Eurostar Speeds London-Paris Run
Channel Tunnel rail company Eurostar has this morning begun its faster services to Paris and Brussels from its new - completely refurbished - London terminal.
Eurostar is now north of the River Thames, moving from Waterloo, where it was based for 13 years, to St Pancras, which has just had an £800 million facelift.
At 11.01am this morning, the first Eurostar train, a VIP service, departed for Gare du Nord in Paris on the now-completed £5.8 billion Channel Rail Link - now known as High Speed 1.
Three minutes later, the first fare-paying service left for Brussels.
Work on St Pancras station began in 2001 enabling it to accommodate Eurostar trains in addition to mainline services, Thameslink and high-speed commuter services to Kent.
On the new Eurostar 186mph rail-link passengers can now travel to Paris in two hours and 15 minutes; the £5.8 billion line cuts journey times by 20 minutes.
Journey times to Brussels have been reduced by 25 minutes to one hour 51 minutes.
At St Pancras brick and stonework has been cleaned, the roof was reglazed with 18,000 panes of self-cleaning glass and repainted in its original light blue.
The station now houses upmarket shops and the longest champagne bar in Europe. The elaborate gothic hotel at the front of the station, vacant since the 80s, will reopen as a five-star hotel and apartments in 2009.
(BMcC)
Eurostar is now north of the River Thames, moving from Waterloo, where it was based for 13 years, to St Pancras, which has just had an £800 million facelift.
At 11.01am this morning, the first Eurostar train, a VIP service, departed for Gare du Nord in Paris on the now-completed £5.8 billion Channel Rail Link - now known as High Speed 1.
Three minutes later, the first fare-paying service left for Brussels.
Work on St Pancras station began in 2001 enabling it to accommodate Eurostar trains in addition to mainline services, Thameslink and high-speed commuter services to Kent.
On the new Eurostar 186mph rail-link passengers can now travel to Paris in two hours and 15 minutes; the £5.8 billion line cuts journey times by 20 minutes.
Journey times to Brussels have been reduced by 25 minutes to one hour 51 minutes.
At St Pancras brick and stonework has been cleaned, the roof was reglazed with 18,000 panes of self-cleaning glass and repainted in its original light blue.
The station now houses upmarket shops and the longest champagne bar in Europe. The elaborate gothic hotel at the front of the station, vacant since the 80s, will reopen as a five-star hotel and apartments in 2009.
(BMcC)
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