December 5, 2007
Eurostar: London to Paris in just over 2 hours!
Eurostar trains that go through the Channel Tunnel are now even faster, and it was recently announced that the journey from London to Paris has been reduced to a little over two hours. I took the train from Paris to London through the Channel Tunnel about ten years ago, and the journey took around three hours. I thought that was amazingly fast - much faster than flying, if you take into account check in time and traveling to and from the airport, etc.
Brussels is even closer by rail from the UK – the journey takes just under 2 hours. Trains on the Paris/Brussels routes reach speeds of around 186 mph, although in April, a train went from Paris to London in just over two hours, at a record-breaking speed of up to 200 mph.
And Eurostar recently moved their London base from Waterloo to St. Pancras station, meaning that travelers can now make connections throughout England, Wales and Scotland. St. Pancras describes itself as the most romantic place to meet, drink and dine in London, which seems a bit unlikely, although the station does boast Europe’s longest champagne bar.
The cost of converting the rather run-down station into a major European travel hub was around 1600 million dollars and the station was ceremoniously opened by the Queen in November 2007. (The Queen recently celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary – perhaps she enjoyed a glass of champagne at the bar)
St Pancras is actually a beautiful Gothic style building, which was alarmingly close to being demolished, for many years. It was originally designed to be a luxurious hotel and will once again become a hotel some time in 2008. The building’s interior has featured in movies such as “From Hell” and “Batman Begins” as well as a Spice Girls rock video. This site has some great photos of the interior and the architectural detail.
The Eurostar isn’t the fastest train in the world – that honor goes to the Maglev train that runs between Shanghai airport and downtown and reaches an amazing 267 mph. There are also plans to develop high speed trains in many other countries – Russia, South Africa and Argentina.
And the slowest train in the world? That title seems to belong to the famous Glacier Express train in Switzerland, which averages a leisurely 22 mph – although the scenery is so spectacular, that nobody minds.
Guest entry by Mancunian
Posted by James Trotta at December 5, 2007 11:50 AM | TrackBack