About Eurostar

Information about your Eurostar Journey

Eurostar - An Introduction

An amazing feat of tunnel engineering, trains that can adapt to three different types of rail network, an ecological success story or simply the fastest, most comfortable way of taking a city break from London (St Pancras International) to continental Europe - the Eurostar travel experience can be seen as all of these things and more.

Eurostar is the train service that links the cities of London, Paris and Brussels. In addition to these main cities, there are additional stops and services to allow direct Eurostar travel to and from Ashford, Calais, Disneyland Resort Paris, and the most recent station to open, Ebbsfleet, near Bluewater in Kent.

Eurostar - Travel by Rail

For those familiar with air travel, the first big difference with Eurostar is that your departure and arrival points are actually centrally located in the cities that bear their names - not in an airport over an hour away.

The cruising speed of an airplane may beat the train, but add on the time involved in actually getting to and from an airport and the Eurostar service wins hands down. Passenger traffic shows that more and more people agree. Eurostar from London to Paris and Eurostar from London to Brussels now carries more passengers on these city to city routes than all of the airlines combined.

Journey Times on Eurostar

2 hours 15 minutes London to Paris by Eurostar, 1 hours 50 minutes from London to Brussels by Eurostar and London to Lille by Eurostar in 1 hour 20. ShortBreaks' other rail destinations are served by short local connections from Brussels - tickets and costs for these connections are included in our break prices.

Many of the advantages of a rail journey over a trip by air are pretty obvious; more personal space, move around when you want, the chance to sit and chat with your travelling companions, enjoy a drink in the bar, or simply more detail to see from the window.

Eurostar First Class

If you need any more convincing why not try the pleasures of First Class? Unlike the airlines, where Business Class or First Class often means double the price, the extra luxury of Eurostar First Class comes at a more modest additional cost (see break prices or consult our travel advisors for details). First Class offers the traveller extra legroom, free newspapers, a full drinks service and a fully catered meal.

Journey Under the Channel

Undoubtedly the most amazing section of the Eurostar journey is the one that you'll see least of - the journey under the English Channel through the Channel Tunnel. It took three years for tunneling machines working from France and England to meet up underground. The Channel Tunnel used by Eurostar trains is made up of 3 tunnels - 2 large enough for the Eurostar rail traffic and a third central maintenance tunnel between them. Trains speed through the tunnel at up to 100 miles an hour so journey time under the channel takes as little as 20 minutes.

The Eurostar Rail Network and Trains

But The Channel Tunnel is not the only engineering feat that you'll encounter on your city break journey. The Eurostar trains themselves are certainly worth a mention. The railway networks of Europe weren't exactly built with integration in mind but the Eurostar train manages to be equally at home in England, France or Belgium. Eurostar trains manage this by operating on various track clearances and connecting to electricity from overhead wires in Belgium and France and a third rail in Britain.

Eurostar trains are essentially modified TGV (the French high speed train). Each train is 400 metres long, made up of 18 carriages, weighs 800 tonnes and carries up to 770 passengers - that's double the capacity of a 747. Eurostar top speed (achieved on the long straight tracks of France) is 186 miles an hour. The completion of sections of the UK Channel Tunnel Rail link has already seen a cut in journey times and this line project is due for completion in 2007.

Eurostar facts and figures aside, the greatest quality of a Eurostar journey is really pretty simple. The Eurostar train offers a perfect solution to the hassles of airports and the discomfort of air travel. You travel in comfort and can enjoy your city break from the moment you arrive.

Plan Your Eurostar Journey with Short Breaks