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|  | 04 September 07 | UK joins Europe's high speed trains club |
Eurostar today will complete its first 'High Speed' train journey from Paris to London, cutting the time by 20 minutes.
The new track, named 'High Speed 1' allows the Eurostar trains to travel at approximately 186mph down 68 miles of British track into St. Pancras International station rather than Waterloo.
The journey time will cut the 2h 35m trip to 2h 15m
and open officially on the 14th November 07. A spokesman from
the channel tunnel company claimed that during the trial run
today for the media, they wouldn't be holding back, "We're hoping to do it even quicker on that first run"
he said.
The Eurostar trains has always travelled at high speeds in France, but due to the line
in the UK previously being shared with commuter services they have been forced to travel
50% slower.
Its a major boost for St Pancras rail station too as eventually the plan is for it to be linked to the site where the Olympics is to be staged at Stratford, East London in 2012.
Eurostar has also said that it is in negotiations with other rail companies to enable competitive prices through to Paris and Brussels from the North of England and Scotland. Richard Brown, Eurostar's Chief Executive told BBC 24 he planned to put in place 'attractive through fares'. The current cost for a return ticket from London to Paris starts from £59.
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