Competition on the lucrative market between London, Paris and Brussels will be further increased from next November. Eurostar will introduce their new dedicated service between the cities with the opening of the high speed link under the Thames, through Stratford and into a rejuvenated St Pancras International. The last Waterloo service will be on Tuesday 13 November. The following morning the first inbound from Paris is expected to arrive at St Pancras just before 0800.
Presently Eurostar trains into London have to share the track with the busy commuter operations into the station across the Thames from Westminster. Fastest travel times between the centres of London and Paris will come down to just 2 hours 15 minutes; London - Brussels to 1 hour 51 minutes; and London - Lille will be only 1 hour 20 minutes. Currently the trains are achieving a 91% on-time arrival rate, even better than the famed French TGV. Each Eurostar train can carry 762 passengers, the equivalent of two Jumbos.
Originally built in 1868 by eminent railway engineer, Sir William Barlow, St Pancras International is being painstakingly restored with the intention of becoming the finest station in Europe. It will set new standards in terms of customer service and establish a new model for what a railway station should be says London & Continental Railways ltd (LCR), its developers.
Project director is Mike Luddy (pictured), a well known figure in the aviation industry having held senior positions at Gatwick, Bristol and Newcastle airports: "The restoration of St Pancras is a truly historic project. We are redefining how a station operates. A unique retail mix with new levels of customer service will combine in this most magnificent of settings. St Pancras International will be the place to meet in London."
Announcing the planned opening date, on time and on budget, LCR also confirmed a name change to the project, now called High Speed 1. Asked at a press conference by the BBC where High Speed 2 might be situated the railway people had no response. However by 2009 it is planned to use the new line for a Kentish London commuter operation from Ashford and a new station called Ebbsfleet International, close to Bluewater. Another user of St Pancras will be the "Javelin" shuttle to Stratford and the Olympic Park, with 10 trains per hour taking just 7.5 minutes.