West Coast Main Line Midland Main Line 0 km London St Pancras 
North London Line Thameslink 2000 tunnels East Coast Main Line London west tunnel 7.5 km Temple Mills Eurostar Depot (single track) 9 km Stratford International 
Temple Mills Line 10 km London east tunnel 10 km 21 km Ripple Lane freight connection Rainham viaduct 0.5 km 27 km Aveley viaduct 1 km 30 km Thurrock viaduct (A282) (1.2 km) 32 km River Thames tunnel (2.5 km) 37 km Ebbsfleet International North Kent Line Phase 1 - Phase 2 boundary 39 km Fawkham Junction link line to Chatham Main Line for London Waterloo 50km Medway Viaduct (1.2km) over Chatham Main Line over Medway Valley Line over River Medway 54 km North Downs Tunnel (3.2 km) 88 km Ashford cut and cover tunnel (1.5 km) Maidstone East Line South Eastern Main Line 89 km 90 km Ashford International Marshlink Line Ashford CTRL-DS Depot (Hitachi) Ashford to Ramsgate 91 km Ashford Flyover (1.5 km) South Eastern Main Line 106 km Dollands Moor Freight terminal M20 108 km CTRL/Eurotunnel boundary Cheriton Shuttle Terminal (Folkestone) 109 km Channel Tunnel to LGV Nord France–UK border High Speed 1 ( HS1 ), officially known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link ( CTRL ), is a 108-kilometre (67-mile) high-speed railway line running from London through Kent to the British end of the Channel Tunnel.
The second and final section of the line, travelling across the River Thames and into London St Pancras, opened on 14 November 2007. Built at a cost of £5.2bn, the new link allows trains to travel at speeds of 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph), cutting pre-2003 Eurostar journey times by 40 minutes and increasing service frequency. It is now possible to travel from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord in 2 hours 15 minutes, and to Brussels South in 1 hour 51 minutes.
There are intermediate stations at Ashford International and Ebbsfleet, and one at Stratford which will open to domestic services in December 2009.
In addition to international Eurostar services, domestic high speed commuter services are scheduled to start in December 2009. A preview service started in June 2009. The fleet of 29 Class 395 trains are able to reach speeds of 225 kilometres per hour (140 mph).
Early history
Further information: High-speed rail in the United KingdomA high-speed rail line, LGV Nord, has been in operation between the Channel Tunnel and the outskirts of Paris since the Tunnel's opening in 1994. This has enabled Eurostar rail services to travel at 300 km/h (186 mph) for this part of their journey. A similar high-speed line from the French border to Brussels, HSL 1, opened in 1997. However, in Britain Eurostar trains had to run at much lower speeds on existing tracks between London and the Channel Tunnel. These tracks were shared with local traffic, limiting the number of services that could be run, as well as their timings. The elderly nature of some of this rail infrastructure caused a disproportionate number of delays, limiting the potential and appeal of the Eurostar service. The case for a High Speed line of equal caliber to the continental part of the route was recognised by lawmakers and advised by industry, and the construction of the line was authorised by Parliament with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996 which was amended by the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Supplementary Provisions) Act 2008.
The original plan for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link involved a tunnel reaching London from the south-east, and an underground terminus in the vicinity of Kings Cross station. However a late change in the plans, principally driven by the then deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine's desire for urban regeneration in East London, led to a change of route, with the new line approaching London from the east. This opened the possibility of reusing the underused St Pancras station as the terminus, with access via the North London Line that crosses the throat of the station.
The idea of using the North London line proved illusory, and it was rejected in 1994 by the then transport secretary, John MacGregor, as difficult to construct and environmentally damaging. However the idea of using St Pancras station as the core of the new terminus was retained, albeit now linked by 20 km (12 miles) of specially built tunnels to Dagenham via Stratford.
London and Continental Railways ( LCR ) was selected by the UK government in 1996 to undertake construction of the line, as well as the reconstruction of St Pancras station as its terminus, and to take over the British share of the Eurostar operation, Eurostar (UK) . The original LCR consortium members were National Express Group, Virgin Group, S. G. Warburg & Co, Bechtel and London Electric. Whilst the project was under development by British Rail it was managed by Union Railways , which became a wholly owned subsidiary of LCR . On 14 November 2006, LCR assigned High Speed 1 as the brand name for the completed railway. Official legislation, documentation and line-s
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