First eurostar outing

[D306]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6977211.stm

First outing for faster Eurostar

Eurostar began carrying passengers in 1994
Eurostar is set to make its inaugural journey from Paris to London via a new 186mph (300km/h) high-speed UK 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.

Construction of the line and revamping St Pancras cost £5.8bn in public funds.

The high cost of the project 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"

The 306-mile test-run is expected to set a new record for the journey time between Paris and London.

The train will leave Paris at 0944 BST and is expected to reach speeds of up to 186mph - 50% faster than domestic rail services.

It will join the new 68-mile (110km) line, known as High Speed 1, at the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone, before arriving at St Pancras at midday.

The train will 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.

'It's as quick and more frequent and we will be matching airline prices'

Richard Brown
Eurostar chief executive

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.

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, 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."

Nigel Harris, managing editor of Rail Magazine, said he was thrilled to be among the first passengers to travel on the new high-speed line.

He said it would mean hundreds of thousands of people from the North would be able to travel to Paris without facing the drag of travelling across London on bus, Tube or train to get to Waterloo.

London and Continental Railways (LCR), the company behind the construction of the new line, said it was the first new railway for 100 years and Britain's largest single construction in history.

A spokesman for LCR said it would be a "very powerful catalyst" for regeneration.

He said LCR had a commitment to repay some of the £5.8bn in government money from profits generated from large areas of land bought around the track.

St Pancras station, which has undergone an £800m refurbishment, will eventually be linked to the site of the 2012 Olympics at Stratford, east London.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/6969116.stm
CTRL In Depth

 

[CTRL_1]

yeah lets just say it's going to be travelling pretty quick!

 

[LucaZone]

2hrs 3mins 13secs

Nice, but I bet it wont be 12 minutes early on every trip.

 

[djw1981]

what cost them the 3 minutes?

Sub 2 hour would be great for the poblicity!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
what cost them the 3 minutes? Sub 2 hours would be great for publicity

 

[CTRL_1]

what cost them the 3 minutes?

temporary speed restriction around the Calais area..i heard at one moment they were 10 mins early
(not sure about that, but it was certainly bombing along!!!)

Sub 2 hour would be great for the poblicity!

September 20th (i think) could be the day.....!

 

[LucaZone]

You say 'what cost them 3 minutes' but in actual fact they were scheduled and its been advertised that the trip will take 2hrs 15mins. So its not that they were 3minutes late but infact 12 minutes early!

 

[djw1981]

My poiunt wa sin terms fo beating 2hours as a one -off on the first run would have got better headlines!

 

[Gizmogle]

I could be on the test runs between London and Ebbsfleet but I'm at college on all the days

 

[CTRL_1]

You say 'what cost them 3 minutes' but in actual fact they were scheduled and its been advertised that the trip will take 2hrs 15mins. So its not that they were 3minutes late but infact 12 minutes early!

yeah the main target today was actually to do it in two hours, it just wasnt advertised so that there wouldnt be any red faces if it wasnt made (which it wasnt lol).
E* are hoping the calais speed restriction will be lifted for Sep 20th.

 

[Turbostar]

2hrs 3mins 13secs

Nice, but I bet it wont be 12 minutes early on every trip.

2hrs 3min 39secs, official.

Mart

 

[CosherB]

They were definately going for a fast time. A friend of mine came back from Paris yesterday on a Eurostar and they were routed off the CTRL from Ashford to Waterloo making them very late. Presumably this was to give the press train, running faster than 186mph, a clear path.

CS

 

[support-uk-rail]

My opinions outskirt all of yours, unless you simply havn't mentioned it.

- I don't beleive £5.8 million of public money should be spent to save 20 minutes journey time from England to France/Belgium, Eurostar was the quickest and easiest way anyway. I just don't understand these happenings sometimes. I like it yes, but I'm not sure it was a very economical decision. That money could have been spent on fixing the rest of the tatty railways.

 

[me123]

My opinions outskirt all of yours, unless you simply havn't mentioned it.

- I don't beleive £5.8 million of public money should be spent to save 20 minutes journey time from England to France/Belgium, Eurostar was the quickest and easiest way anyway. I just don't understand these happenings sometimes. I like it yes, but I'm not sure it was a very economical decision. That money could have been spent on fixing the rest of the tatty railways.

I must agree to an extent, but with the high speed link in place, I think that it could be a stepping stone to a faster national network. There's also the olympics to consider.

But I do agree that the money for the new line could have been used on more benificial projects, such as more electrification and upgrade of some of the rather poor lines in Britain.

I'm sure the new link will have other benefits, besides a faster journey time.

 

[CosherB]

It's not just the extra 20 minutes saved - it's strategic! Not only does the CTRL (HS1) now link directly with ECML and WCML, but it opens the door for HS2 from St Pancras northwards - if we ever get a government wit a bit of vision!:roll:

 

[Mojo]

Also don't forget it helps out the sluggish commuter services in the South East. People say the SE commuter services are quite good, but compare, say London to Margate and London to Birmingham, and how much longer distance the latter is.