Eurostar aims for Paris-London record on new track
Reuters - Monday, September 3 08:10 pm
LONDON (Reuters) - Eurostar plans to set a Paris to London speed record on Tuesday with its first ever train on the UK's long-awaited high speed track.
The 9:44 a.m. service from Paris Gare du Nord will take its inaugural run down 109 kilometres (about 68 miles) of British track, known as High Speed 1, arriving for the first time in London's St Pancras International station rather than Waterloo.
The journey time will be cut from the usual 2 hours 35 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes on the new route.
"But we're hoping to do it even quicker on that first run," said a spokesman.
Eurostar carried its first passengers in 1994 after the delayed opening of the $15 billion (7.4 billion pounds) Channel Tunnel.
But while trains have cruised swiftly across France on high speed track at speeds of up to 186 miles (300 km) per hour, they have been forced to throttle back on the British side where they mingle with commuter services heading in and out of London.
Eurostar's faster service arrives at a time of booming demand for rail travel in Britain after a series of foiled terrorist attacks have led to tighter security and delays at UK airports.
Eurostar also says it has been helped by people switching from plane to train due to concerns about the environment.
Environmental statistics put the CO2 impact of aviation anywhere between four and 10 times that of rail on short-haul journeys.
The official switch to St Pancras station takes place on November 14, and the station will eventually link with the site of the 2012 Olympics at Stratford in east London.
Eurostar services are handled by France's SNCF railway and Belgium's SNCB on their own territory.
On the British side this is done by the ICRR consortium, comprising National Express, SNCF, SNCB and British Airways.
Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited.
Eurostar aims for Paris-London record on new track
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First outing for faster Eurostar
Eurostar is set to make its inaugural journey from Paris to London via a new 186mph (300km/h) high-speed line.
The train - carrying members of the media - will also arrive at St Pancras International station, instead of Waterloo, for the first time.
The new line is expected to cut journey times from Paris to London by 20 minutes to 2hr 15min and will open to the public on 14 November.
Upgrading the line and revamping St Pancras has cost £5.8bn.
The high cost is partly due to some major engineering challenges, including laying track to pass over the River Medway, under the River Thames and through 11 miles of tunnels beneath London.
'High-speed club"
On Tuesday the train will also pass through the new £100m Ebbsfleet International station near Dartford, in Kent.
Seven services to Paris and five to Brussels will start running from Ebbsfleet from 19 November, and a ticket office has been opened at Bluewater Shopping Centre two miles from the station.
The new line, known as High Speed 1, runs for 68 miles (110km) from the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone to St Pancras in central London.
The 186mph speeds are 50% faster than domestic rail services.
Richard Brown, chief executive of Eurostar, said: "Today marks Britain's entry into the European high-speed rail club.
"We can now run trains at high speed all the way from the Channel Tunnel to London, making journeys between cities quicker, more convenient and far greener than flying."
He said journey times to Paris, even for people travelling from Yorkshire or Leeds, would be broadly the same as for those flying due to lengthier check-in times at airports.
"It's as quick and more frequent... and we will be matching airline prices."
Trains have always travelled along the French section of the route at high speeds, but were forced to slow down on the British side because they shared a track with commuter services in and out of London.
St Pancras station will eventually be linked to the site of the 2012 Olympics at Stratford, east London.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/u ... 977211.stm
Published: 2007/09/04 06:11:24 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Eurostar is set to make its inaugural journey from Paris to London via a new 186mph (300km/h) high-speed line.
The train - carrying members of the media - will also arrive at St Pancras International station, instead of Waterloo, for the first time.
The new line is expected to cut journey times from Paris to London by 20 minutes to 2hr 15min and will open to the public on 14 November.
Upgrading the line and revamping St Pancras has cost £5.8bn.
The high cost is partly due to some major engineering challenges, including laying track to pass over the River Medway, under the River Thames and through 11 miles of tunnels beneath London.
'High-speed club"
On Tuesday the train will also pass through the new £100m Ebbsfleet International station near Dartford, in Kent.
Seven services to Paris and five to Brussels will start running from Ebbsfleet from 19 November, and a ticket office has been opened at Bluewater Shopping Centre two miles from the station.
The new line, known as High Speed 1, runs for 68 miles (110km) from the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone to St Pancras in central London.
The 186mph speeds are 50% faster than domestic rail services.
Richard Brown, chief executive of Eurostar, said: "Today marks Britain's entry into the European high-speed rail club.
"We can now run trains at high speed all the way from the Channel Tunnel to London, making journeys between cities quicker, more convenient and far greener than flying."
He said journey times to Paris, even for people travelling from Yorkshire or Leeds, would be broadly the same as for those flying due to lengthier check-in times at airports.
"It's as quick and more frequent... and we will be matching airline prices."
Trains have always travelled along the French section of the route at high speeds, but were forced to slow down on the British side because they shared a track with commuter services in and out of London.
St Pancras station will eventually be linked to the site of the 2012 Olympics at Stratford, east London.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/u ... 977211.stm
Published: 2007/09/04 06:11:24 GMT
© BBC MMVII