Eurostar is a high-speed railway passenger service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains cross under the English Channel via the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel.
The London terminal is St Pancras, with calling points at Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International in Kent. Calling points in France are Calais-Fréthun and Lille-Europe, with the main Paris terminus at Gare du Nord. Trains to Belgium terminate at Brussels-South railway station. In addition, there are limited services from London to Disneyland Resort Paris at Marne-la-Vallée - Chessy, and to seasonal destinations in southern France.
The service is operated by the eponymous eighteen-carriage Class 373 trains which run at up to 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph) on a network of high-speed lines. The LGV Nord line in France opened before Eurostar services began in 1994, and newer lines enabling faster journeys were added later — HSL 1 in Belgium and High Speed 1 in southern England. The French and Belgian parts of the network are shared with Paris–Brussels Thalys services and other TGV trains. In the United Kingdom the two-stage Channel Tunnel Rail Link project was completed on 14 November 2007 and renamed High Speed 1, when the London terminus of Eurostar transferred from Waterloo International to St Pancras.
Eurostar is operated by the national railway companies of France and Belgium, SNCF and SNCB, and by Eurostar (UK) Ltd (EUKL), a subsidiary of London and Continental Railways (LCR), which also owns the high-speed infrastructure and stations on the British side. Eurostar has become the dominant operator in cross-channel intercity passenger travel on the routes that it operates, carrying more passengers than all airlines combined. Other operators have stated an interest in purchasing EUKL, or starting competing services following deregulation in 2010.
History
Conception and planning
Main articles: Channel Tunnel , Eurotunnel , and TransManche LinkThe history of Eurostar can be traced to the 1986 choice of a rail tunnel to provide a cross-channel link between Britain and France. A previous attempt at constructing a tunnel between the two nations had begun in 1974, but in January 1975 the project was cancelled by the British government over disagreements with the construction companies and spiralling costs during a difficult economic period. Ideas for such a tunnel underneath the English Channel had been proposed as early as 1802; the first serious attempt at building a tunnel, in 1881, was abandoned due to a hostile press seeing the tunnel as compromising Britain's natural defences against military attack. Eurotunnel was created to manage and own the tunnel, and TransManche Link created as the joint construction consortium to build the project. Construction of the physical tunnel began in 1988, and was finished five years later, in 1993, the official opening taking place in May 1994.
In addition to the tunnel's shuttle trains carrying cars and lorries between Folkestone and Calais, the decision to construct a railway tunnel provided for through passenger and freight train services to places further afield. British Rail and SNCF contracted with Eurotunnel to use half the tunnel's capacity. In 1987 Britain, France and Belgium set up an International Project Group to specify a train providing an international high-speed service through the tunnel. France had been operating high-speed TGV services since 1981, and had begun construction of a new high-speed line between Paris and the Channel Tunnel, LGV Nord; TGV technology was chosen as the basis for the trains. An order for 30 trainsets was placed in December 1989. Testing of the new trains revealed problems on the 750V third-rail system in Kent. The trains were designed to shut down if causing electrical interference with signalling, and this happened frequently, but the problem was solved before services began. On 20 June 1993, the first Eurostar test train travelled through the tunnel to the UK.
Launch of service
On 14 November 1994 Eurostar services began between Waterloo International station in London, Gare du Nord in Paris and Brussels-South railway station in Brussels. In 1995 Eurostar was achieving an average end-to-end speed of 171.5 km/h (106.6 mph) between London and Paris. On 8 January 1996 Eurostar launched services from a second railway station in the UK when Ashford International was opened. Journey times between London and Brussels were reduced by the opening of HSL 1 on 14 December 1997.
On 23 September 2003 passenger services began running on the first completed section of High Speed 1, marking the introduction of dedicated high-speed rail to Britain. Following a high-profile glamorous opening ceremony and a large advertising campaign, on 14 November 2007 Eurostar services in London transferred from Waterloo to the brand new St Pancras International.
Records achieved
The Channel Tunnel used by Eurostar services holds the record for having the longest undersea section anywhere in the world, as well as being the second longest tunnel in the world. A Eurostar Class 373 train set a new British speed record of 334.7 km/h (208.0 mph) on the first section of High Speed 1 on 30 July 2003, two months before services began running upon the first section of High Speed 1.
On 16 May 2006 Eurostar set a new record for the longest non-stop high-speed journey, a distance of 1,421 kilometres (883 mi) from London to Cannes taking 7 hours 25 minutes. On 4 September 2007 a record-breaking train left Paris Gare du Nord at 10:44 (09:44 BST) and reached London St Pancras in 2 hours 3 minutes 39 seconds; carrying journalists and railway workers, the train was the first passenger-carrying arrival at St Pancras International station. On 20 September 2007, Eurostar broke another record as it completed the journey from Brussels to London in 1 hour, 43 minutes.
Regional Eurostar and Nightstar
Further information: Regional Eurostar and Nightstar (train)The original proposals for Eurostar included direct services to Paris and Brussels from cities north of London (NoL): Manchester via Birmingham on the West Coast Main Line and Glasgow via Edinburgh, Newcastle and York on the East Coast Main Line. Seven shorter NoL Eurostar trains for these Regional Eurostar services were built, but with predicted journey times of almost nine hours for Glasgow to Paris the growth of low-cost air travel during the 1990s made the plans commercially unviable against the cheaper and quicker airlines. Other reasons that have been suggested for these services having never been run were both government policies and the disruptive privatisation of British Rail. Three of the Regional Eurostar units were leased by Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) to increase domestic services from London King's Cross to York and later Leeds. The leases ended in December 2005, and most of the NoL sets have since been transferred to SNCF for TGV services in northern France.
An international Nightstar sleeper train was also planned; this would have travelled the same routes as Regional Eurostar, plus the Great Western Main Line to Cardiff. These were also deemed commercially unviable, and the scheme was abandoned with no services ever operated. In 2000 the coaches were sold to VIA Rail in Canada.
Ashford International station
Main article: Ashford International railway stationAshford International station was the original station for Eurostar services in Kent. Once Ebbsfleet International railway station, also designed to serve the Kent region, had opened, only three trains a day to Paris and one to Disneyland Paris called at Ashford for a considerable amount of time. There were fears that services at Ashford International might be further reduced or withdrawn altogether as Eurostar planned to make Ebbsfleet the new regional hub instead. However, after a period during which no Brussels trains served the station, to the dissatisfaction of the local communities, on 23 February 2009 Eurostar re-introduced a single daily Ashford to Brussels service. Some critics have remained sceptical, as very few ticket distributors sell tickets either coming from or going to Ashford International.
Mainline routes
0:00 London St Pancras 
Stratford International ...
Eurostar Day Trips - Eurostar Packages - Eurostar Accommodation ...
Prices from: £160.00. Eurostar Day Trip to Disneyland Paris with Planet Hollywood Meal
Eurostar: Travel between London, Paris, Brussels and more - Buy now ...
Fares include the price of the ticket and seat reservation. Meals are included for Business Premier and First Class fares ONLY. The Eurostar is non-smoking!
London Paris Train - Eurostar Fares - Eurostar ...
Eurostar connects to over 100 European destinations from London/Ebbsfleet and Ashford. ... Exchanges: Exchangeable before departure by paying a difference in price with the next ...
Book Eurostar breaks & travel deals at thomascook.com
Find cheap Eurostar only fares on thomascook.com and cut the cost of your city break. The price you see is the price you pay. You can find low fares year round and why not book a ...
Eurostar City Breaks - Eurostar short breaks - Eurostar Hotel ...
Eurostar Short Breaks. From the heart of one capital to the centre of ... Prices from: £174.00. Paris Eurostar New Years Eve 2009 Trip
Eurostar UK - Best Ticket Prices - Eurostar Rail travel is Cheaper ...
To coincide with moving to a new base at St Pancras International - the Eurostar...
Cheap Eurostar train tickets for students & youth | London to Paris ...
Students and Youth under 26yrs can travel from London to Europe with Eurostar’s cheap deals. London to Paris and London to Brussels from $65 one way! Valid for travel until 31 ...
Eurostar Latest Deals And Lowest Prices
Eurostar Latest Deals And Lowest Prices. Eurostar Latest Deals And Lowest Prices. Through Fares To The Continent from £6 7. Eurostar and ATOC announce through fares to ...
London/Paris Eurostar prices -- selecting US vs. UK (vs. France ...
Hi, I've noticed that the ticket is cheaper in pounds if I price as if the UK is my domicile (whereas in reality, it's the US). The ticket is about $100 cheaper. Is it kosher to do ...
