News

Eurostar has today (4 September) set a new record during its inaugural run between Paris and its new London terminal and has proved it is a viable competitor to the airlines flying to the near continent.

The 306-mile journey between Gare du Nord in Paris and St Pancras in central London took just 2hours 3minutes and 39 seconds.

It was expected to take two and a quarter hours, shaving 20 minutes off the journey time but bettered that by a little over eleven minutes.

Trains will reach speeds of 186mph, about twice as fast as the quickest domestic rail services in the UK.

The high-speed line is the first in the UK and runs for 68 miles from the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone to St Pancras.

It passes through Ashford International and Eurostar's new station at Ebbsfleet in Kent, before crossing the River Thames and approaching the capital in tunnels under east London.

The new high-speed line and station improvements have cost £5.8 billion.

Eurostar will launch services from St Pancras on 14 November, having run the final trains from Waterloo the previous evening.