|
This article is about the high-speed train service between London and Brussels / Paris. For other uses, see Eurostar (disambiguation).
| | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Franchise(s): | Not subject to franchising International joint operation service began 1994 |
| Main stations(s): | London St Pancras, |
| Other stations(s): | Ebbsfleet Int., Stratford Int., Ashford Int., Calais-Fréthun, Lille-Europe, Marne-la-Vallée, Avignon Centre, Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Aime-la-Plagne, Moûtiers |
| Fleet size: | 27 Class 373 sets |
| Stations called at: | 12 (13 when High Speed 1 is fully operational) |
| National Rail abbreviation: | ES |
| Parent company: | Eurostar (U.K.) Ltd., SNCF, NMBS/SNCB |
| Web site: | www.eurostar.com |
Eurostar is a train service primarily connecting London and Kent in Britain, with Paris and Lille in France, and Brussels in Belgium. In addition to these three-capitals services, there are limited services from London to Disneyland and several seasonal destinations in France. Trains cross under the English Channel through the Channel Tunnel.
The service is operated by a fleet of specially designed eighteen-carriage Class 373 trains which travel at up to 300 km/h (186 mph) on a network of high-speed railway lines. Since the Eurostar service began in 1994, new lines have been built in Belgium (HSL 1) and Southern England (High Speed 1) to the same standards as the LGV Nord line originally used in France, enabling journey times to be progressively reduced. The two-stage High Speed 1 project was completed on November 14, 2007, when the London terminus of the Eurostar service transferred from Waterloo International to St Pancras International station.
Contents |
The history of the Eurostar rail service can be traced back to the 1986 choice of a rail tunnel to provide a fixed cross-Channel link between Britain and France. In addition to the tunnel’s shuttle trains, this decision provided for through passenger and freight trains. British Rail and SNCF contracted with EurotunnelEurotunnel, the company that built and runs the Channel Tunnel, is a completely separate entity from Eurostar. to use half the tunnel’s capacity. In 1987 Britain, France and Belgium set up an International Project Group to create a specification for a train capable of providing an international, high-speed rail service through the Channel Tunnel. Having been operating high speed TGV services since 1981, and with construction of a new high-speed line between Paris and the Channel Tunnel (LGV Nord) well underway, it was perhaps unsurprising that TGV technology was chosen as the basis for the new trains. An order for thirty trainsets was placed in December 1989.
Testing of the new trains revealed some problems when used on the 750V third rail system in Britain. The trains were designed to shut themselves down if they might be causing electrical interference with the signaling system, and this happened frequently. However, the problems were solved and on 14 November 1994, Eurostar services began between the new Waterloo International station in London, Paris and Brussels. Services to Ashford International followed on 8 January 1996.
Part of the original proposals for Eurostar were 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 intended 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."Eurostar extension in doubt", BBC News, 1999-04-28. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. Three of the Regional Eurostar units were later leased by Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) to increase capacity on domestic services from London King\'s Cross to York and later Leeds. The leases concluded in December 2005, and most of the NoL sets have since been transferred to SNCF for use on domestic TGV services in northern France.
An international Nightstar sleeper train service was also planned; these would have travelled along 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; in 2000 the coaches were sold to VIA Rail in Canada.
A significant improvement in journey times between London and Brussels occurred when a new Belgian high speed line, HSL 1, was opened on 14 December 1997. A further four-minute improvement for London-Brussels services was achieved in December 2006 with completion of a new 435m long Brussels South Viaduct. Linking the international platforms of Brussels-South railway station with the high speed line, the viaduct separates Eurostar from local services.
The next major improvement came in September 2003 with the opening of the first section of the British high-speed line between the Channel Tunnel and Fawkham Junction in north Kent. London–Paris journey times were cut by around 21 minutes to 2 hours 35 minutes, and London-Brussels was reduced to 2 hours 20 minutes.
A Eurostar on High Speed 1 going through the Medway Towns
Shortly before the opening of the newly completed high speed line, two special runs took place. On 4 September 2007, a special 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. French driver Francis Queret took train-set 3223/24 through France, while Briton Neil Meare took control of the train passing through Kent. Transporting journalists and railway workers, the train was the first passenger-carrying arrival at the new St Pancras International station. The train passed through the new £100 million Ebbsfleet International station near Dartford in Kent on the way to St Pancras; both stations will provide direct services to the site of the 2012 Olympics at Stratford, London."Eurostar sets Paris-London record", BBC News, 2007-09-04. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
On 20 September 2007, Eurostar broke another record as it completed the journey from Brussels to London in 1 hour, 43 minutes. The train left Brussels-South Station at 10:05, and reached St Pancras International at 11:48.Eurostar breaks another record. Retrieved on 2007-12-31.
From 30 October to early November 2007 Eurostar conducted an Integrated Volume Testing programme in which some 6000 members of the public were involved in passenger check-in, immigration control and departure trials, during which the \'passengers\' each made three return journeys out of St Pancras to the entrance to the London tunnel.
At 18:12 on 13 November 2007 the last Eurostar service left Waterloo International, and on 14 November commercial services began over the whole of the new High Speed 1 line. The redeveloped St Pancras International station became the new London terminus for all Eurostar services; at a cost of £800 million this has been extensively rebuilt and extended in length to cope with the 394 m (431 yd) Eurostar trains."The transformation of St Pancras", BBC News, 2007-11-06. Retrieved on 2007-12-14. The first service left St Pancras at 11:06 for Brussels, with the first arrival from the same city pulling in at 11:09. The first train to Paris departed at 11:03."Eurostar arrives in Paris on time", BBC News, 2007-11-14. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
The completion of High Speed 1 has brought the British part of Eurostar\'s route up to the same standards as the French and Belgian high-speed lines. Line speeds are 300 km/h, except within the tunnel sections where slower speeds apply for safety reasons. Non-stop journey times have been reduced by a further 20 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes for London-Paris and 1 hour 51 minutes London-Brussels.
| Eurostar route map | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Times shown are fastest timetabled journey from London St Pancras. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Since 14 November 2007 all Eurostar trains have been routed via High Speed 1 from the newly redeveloped London terminus at St Pancras International. Originally Eurostar intended to retain some services at the former Waterloo International terminal, but this was later ruled out on cost grounds.
From 9 December 2007 Eurostar offers 17 weekday London–Paris services (19 on Fridays) including 7 non-stop, and 10 London–Brussels trains including 3 non-stop.[http://www.eurostar.com/pdf/timetables/timetables_english.pdf Eurostar Service from 9 December 2007 to 5 July 2008]. Retrieved on 2007-12-16. In addition to these three-capitals services, there is one round-trip London–Disneyland Paris and two seasonal services: from July to September there is a weekly London–Ashford–Avignon service, and in the winter months there are twice-weekly Snow Train services to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Aime-la-Plagne and Moutiers in the French Alps for the ski season; one of these runs overnight and the other is a daytime round-trip.
Current intermediate stations are Ebbsfleet International in northwest Kent, Ashford International in southeast Kent, and Calais-Fréthun and Lille-Europe in northern France.
Completion of High Speed 1 has allowed a significant increase in the potential number of Eurostar trains serving London. Capacity now exists for up to eight trains per hour to travel in each direction from London to Continental Europe, moving the bottleneck to the Channel Tunnel itself. Separation of Eurostar from UK domestic railway services through Kent means that its timetabling is now unaffected by peak-hour restrictions.
Eurostar is a member of the Amadeus CRS global distribution system, making its tickets available alongside those of airlines worldwide.Eurostar available alongside airlines on the GDS systems. Eurostar.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-28. From 18 December 2007 through-fares were made available from 68 UK towns and cities to Paris, Brussels and other destinations in France and Belgium.Through-fares from 68 UK towns and cities to continental Europe now available on eurostar.com. Eurostar.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
Eurostar\'s punctuality has fluctuated over the years of its service, but in 2007 91.5% of services were on time.Eurostar uses the airlines\' definition of \'on-time\': within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival time. The measure used for long-distance services in the rail industry is within 10 minutes.High Speed 1 delivers a record year for Eurostar. Eurostar.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
Since the first revenue-earning Eurostar trains ran in November 1994, Eurostar has established a dominant share of the combined rail/air market on its principal three-capitals routes. In 2007 it achieved all-time highs of 71% on the London-Paris route and 65% for London-Brussels."Eurostar passenger numbers surge", Financial Times, 2008-01-10.
Eurostar\'s passenger numbers, while substantial, have generally failed to meet the ambitious predictions that have been made. In 1996 London and Continental Railways forecast that passenger numbers would reach 21.4 million by 2004,Select Committee on Public Accounts Thirty-Eighth Report. parliament.uk. Retrieved on 2007-12-15. but only 7.3 million was achieved. Eurostar\'s current target is 10 million passengers by 2010."Eurostar speeds from Paris to London in 123 minutes", Railnews.co.uk, 2007-09-06.
| 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 4.9 | 6.0 | 6.3 | 6.6 | 7.1 | 6.95 | 6.60 | 6.31 | 7.27 | 7.45 | 7.85 | 8.26 |
All figures in millions. 1995 data is approximate.
A number of factors are likely to support Eurostar\'s latest growth targets:
Eurostar in Savoie, France in the French Alps
Eurostar\'s main fleet consists of 38 electric multiple unit train, designated Class 373 in the United Kingdom and TGV373000 in France. There are two variants:
The formation of the Three Capitals trains is shown in the table below, with vehicles listed in the order they are placed in the unit.
| Coach | Description | Seating | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | Toilets | Baby changing | ||
| 1 | Standard class | - | 48 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Standard class | - | 56 | 1 | - |
| 3 | Standard class | - | 56 | 2 | - |
| 4 | Standard class | - | 56 | 1 | - |
| 5 | Standard class | - | 56 | 2 | - |
| 6 | Bar-Buffet | - | - | - | - |
| 7 | Leisure Select/Business Premier | 39 | - | 1 | - |
| 8 | Leisure Select/Business Premier | 39 | - | 1 | - |
| 9 | Leisure Select/Business Premier | 25 | - | 1(D) | - |
| 10 | Leisure Select/Business Premier | 25 | - | 1(D) | - |
| 11 | Leisure Select/Business Premier | 39 | - | 1 | - |
| 12 | Leisure Select/Business Premier | 39 | - | 1 | - |
| 13 | Bar-Buffet | - | - | - | - |
| 14 | Standard class | - | 56 | 2 | - |
| 15 | Standard class | - | 56 | 1 | - |
| 16 | Standard class | - | 56 | 2 | - |
| 17 | Standard class | - | 56 | 1 | - |
| 18 | Standard class | - | 48 | 1 | 1 |
The trains are essentially modified TGV sets and can operate at up to 300 km/h (186 mph) on high-speed lines, and 160 km/h (100 mph) in the Channel Tunnel. Speed limits in the Channel Tunnel are dictated by air-resistance, energy (heat) dissipation and the need to fit in with other trains operating at slower speeds.
The trains were designed with Channel Tunnel safety in mind, and consist of two independent "half-sets", each with its own power car. In the event of a serious fire on board while travelling through the Tunnel, the passengers would be transferred into the undamaged half of the train, which would then be detached from the damaged half and driven out of the tunnel to safety. If the undamaged part were the rear half of the train, this would be driven by the Chef du Train who is a fully authorised driver and occupies the rear driving cab while the train travels through the tunnel for this purpose.
In 2004-2005 the Three Capitals sets still in daily use for international services were refurbished with a new interior designed by Philippe Starck."Multi-million facelift for Eurostar", BBC News, 2003-05-27. Retrieved on 2007-12-27. The old grey-yellow scheme in Standard class and grey-red of First/Premium First were replaced with a new grey-brown look in Standard and grey-burnt orange in First class. Power points were added to seats in First class and coaches 1 and 18 in Standard class. Premium First class was renamed BusinessPremier.
As 27 of the 31 Three Capitals sets are sufficient to operate the service, four are currently used by SNCF for domestic services; one of these regularly operates the Paris-Lille shuttle.
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| Class 373 Eurostar | Electric multiple unit | 186 | 300 | 28 | London-Paris London-Brussels | 1992 | |
Eurostar has operated a number of other types in the past:
|
|
This article or section contains information about a planned or expected public transportation infrastructure. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the infrastructure approaches, and more information becomes available. |
|
A number of possible future developments affecting the Eurostar service have been mooted:
The intended purpose of Stratford International station was to act as a London stop for regional Eurostar trains. However this plan is under review"Ghost train station that cost £210m", 2006-04-21. Retrieved on 2007-12-22. and it is unlikely that Eurostar trains will call at the station until 2010 at the earliest.
Although the original plan for Regional Eurostar services to destinations north of London were abandoned, the significantly improved journey times available following the opening of High Speed 1 ---- which has connections to both the East Coast Main Line and North London Line (for the West Coast Main Line) at St Pancras ---- and increased maximum speeds on the West Coast Main Line, may make potential Regional Eurostar services more viable. This would be even more likely if proposals are adopted for a new high speed line from London to the north of Britain.Eurostar welcomes greengauge 21’s call for high speed 2. Eurostar.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-31.
Key pieces of infrastructure still belong to LCR via their subsidiary London & Continental Stations and Property such as the Manchester International Depot, and Eurostar (UK) still own several track access rights and the rights to paths on both the East Coast and West Coast Main Lines.http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/272.pdfhttp://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/NR_EastCoastCapacity2005.pdf While no announcement has been made of plans to start Regional Eurostar services, it remains a possibility for the future. In the meantime, the nearest alternative to a Regional Eurostar service is same-station connection with Midland Main Line trains at St Pancras.
The reduced journey times offered by the opening of High Speed 1 bring other continental destinations within a range from London within which rail is competitive against air travel. At present Eurostar is concentrating on developing its connections with other services, particularly at Lille and Brussels, but direct services to other destinations would be possible.
Richard Brown, chairperson of Eurostar, described the difficulties to overcome in an interview with "Rail Professional":
"We know we can go to most places in France physically, because our trains are compatible with French infrastructure, but then you’ve got to look at impact on fleet utilisation, you’ve got to have a station that’s got the spare capacity to have a train stood for a number of hours, for all the security, screening, passport control passes. So it’s not possible to go just anywhere. And you’ve got to be able to get the control authorities to agree that there’s big enough market for it to be worthwhile for them to set up there."
Besides the problems with the security regime imposed by the UK government, services from Germany or The Netherlands would require other trains than the current Eurostars, equipped with the necessary power and control systems.
LGV Picardie is a proposed high-speed line running between Paris and Calais, via Amiens. By cutting off the corner of the LGV Nord at Lille, it would enable Eurostar trains to save 20 minutes on the journey between Paris and Calais, bringing the London to Paris journey time under 2 hours.
In November 2007, various British newspapers reported that Deutsche Bahn, Germany\'s national train company, had applied to use the Channel Tunnel and High Speed 1 rail line into St Pancras International."Germans plan Eurostar rival", 2007-11-01. Retrieved on 2007-12-22. This was swiftly denied by Deutsche Bahn; also the binational Channel Tunnel safety confirmed that they had not received such application.
The completion of HS1 to St Pancras has connected London to the rest of the growing high speed rail network in Western Europe, to the extent that rail will provide genuine competition to air travel in terms of time to several destinations. However, there are several reasons that as yet make it difficult for competitors to Eurostar to even contemplate appyling to run services:
Eurostar was forced to defend its decision to open Ebbsfleet International station in north Kent, after a large, vocal protest from commuters and business leaders dependent on Ashford International station.New Eurostar station causes anger in Ashford. Independent.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
After the opening of Ebbsfleet station the service to Ashford International was severely cut from 7 trains to Paris to 3 and, most controversially, all 4 services to Brussels were scrapped.
After the change in timetables many residents in Kent, Surrey and Sussex were forced to travel into London or drive their car to Ebbsfleet, significantly increasing their journey times and costs. Many of these residents felt this was a \'betrayal\' by Eurostar, because they had faced great disruption in the building of HighSpeed 1, but, it was felt, being excluded from travelling on it.
A website was setup by Lib Dem Member of the European Parliament for the South East, Sharon Bowles in an attempt to increase the services that run to Ashford InternationalSave Ashford International. www.saveashfordinternational.org.uk. Retrieved on 2008-02-18..
Eurostar services are under unified management, the Eurostar Group. In each country, a member company undertakes Eurostar operation:
Eurostar is a member of Railteam, a marketing alliance formed in July 2007 of seven European high-speed rail operators, including Thalys.A high-speed revolution. The Economist (2007-07-05). Retrieved on 2007-07-17. The alliance plans to allow tickets bookable from one side of Europe to the other on one website.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
| TGV – Train à Grande Vitesse — stations | |
|---|---|
| Lines in service | LGV Sud-Est • LGV Est • LGV Atlantique • LGV Rhône-Alpes • LGV Nord • LGV Interconnexion Est • LGV Méditerranée • High Speed 1 |
| Lines under construction | LGV Perpignan-Figueres • LGV Rhin-Rhône |
| Planned lines | LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire • LGV Provence-Alpes-Côte d\'Azur • LGV Poitiers-Limoges • LGV Sud Europe Atlantique • LGV Bordeaux-Toulouse • LGV Picardie • Lyon Turin Ferroviaire |
| Rolling stock | TGV Sud-Est • TGV Atlantique • TGV Réseau • British Rail Class 373 (Eurostar) • TGV Duplex • TGV Thalys PBKA • TGV POS |
| International services | Artésia • Eurostar • Elipsos • TGV Lyria • Thalys |
| Other | TGV accidents • LGV construction • LGV signalling • TGV history |
| Channel Tunnel | |
|---|---|
| Construction | Fixed Link Treaty - TransManche Link - High Speed 1 |
| Corporate | Eurotunnel Group - Eurostar (U.K.) Ltd. - SNCF - SNCB |
| Services | Eurostar - Eurotunnel Shuttle - Europorte 2 |
| Other | Rail transport in France - Rail transport in the United Kingdom |
| ◄ Defunct • Future ► | |
| National: |
Arriva Trains Wales · c2c · Chiltern Railways · CrossCountry · East Midlands Trains · First Capital Connect · First Great Western · First ScotRail · First TransPennine Express · Gatwick Express · Grand Central · Heathrow Express · Hull Trains · London Midland · London Overground · Merseyrail · National Express East Anglia · National Express East Coast · Northern Ireland Railways1 · Northern Rail · Southeastern · Southern · South West Trains · Virgin Trains |
| International: |
Enterprise1 · Eurostar |
| Sub-brands: |
Caledonian Sleeper · Heathrow Connect · Island Line · Night Riviera · Stansted Express |
| 1 Operates on the Irish railway network | |
| High-speed rail | |
|---|---|
| High-speed trains | Acela Express • AGV • AVE • ETR 500 • Eurostar • InterCityExpress • JR-Maglev MLX01 • KTX • HST • HSR-350x • Pendolino • Shinkansen • TGV • Transrapid • Treno Alta Velocità • X 2000 |
| High-speed lines | Beijing-Tianjin • Cologne-Aachen • Cologne-Frankfurt • French LGV lines • Hanover-Würzburg • HS1/CTRL (London-Channel Tunnel) • HSL 1 (Brussels-Paris) • HSL 2 (Leuven-Ans) • HSL 3 (Liège-Aachen) • HSL 4 (Brussels-Netherlands) • HSL-Zuid (Netherlands) • Madrid-Barcelona • Northeast Corridor (Boston-Washington DC) • Nuremberg-Ingolstadt • Japanese Shinkansen lines • Taiwan High Speed Rail |
| By country | Argentina • Belgium • Canada • China • France • Germany • Italy • Japan • Morocco • Norway • Portugal • Spain • South Korea • Sweden • Taiwan • Turkey • United Kingdom • United States (CA · FL · OH · NY · TX · Southeast · Northeast · Midwest) • Europe • In Planning |
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia