Eurostar

The Eurostar train

Eurostar
is the high-speed train service that links the UK with France and Belgium.

Eurostar
runs almost hourly between London and Paris every day (18-21 times a day) and 10 times a day between London and Brussels.

With Eurostar Planet
customers can also book Eurostar with a hotel, guaranteed to save money on the same travel booked separately.

Eurostar
is the first true international train. It has set the standard for international rail travel, is changing the way that people travel between Europe and the UK, and it has won several rail and travel awards.

It connects directly three capital cities: of France (Paris), England (London) and Belgium (Brussels), plus Ashford in England, and Calais, Lille, Avignon and Paris Disneyland Resort in France.

For the first time in history, thanks to the 31-mile-long Tunnel under the Channel (known as Eurotunnel), Great Britain is no longer an island, strictly speaking, and therefore can have an international train service.

Eurostar is the name of this service, Europe's most famous Premier Train. The world's most advanced train, Eurostar whisks you under the sea through the famous Channel Tunnel taking you to and from Paris Gare du Nord, London Waterloo International and Brussels-Midi/Zuid in record time and in luxurious surroundings.

Eurostar runs services every day directly linking the three cities mentioned above, Ashford in Kent, and Lille, Disneyland Resort Paris and Calais-Fréthun in France.
Direct seasonal services run from London and Ashford to Avignon in Provence (May-October) and to the French Alpine towns of Moutiers, Bourg St. Maurice and La Plagne (November-April).
But it also has many other indirect links. With a simple change in Lille, Paris or Brussels, you can also reach over 100 more destinations across France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany with Eurostar Connections.
Trains from the south and west of France connect with the Eurostar at Lille, and people travelling from Holland, Germany and Northern Europe can find trains connecting with the Eurostar in Brussels.
The good news is that Eurostar tickets to/from Brussels automatically include transfer to/from any Belgian station at no extra cost.

The Eurostar, also called the Channel Tunnel train, provides a fast, passenger-only connection to and from the UK through the Eurotunnel with the European continent.
The trains make swift, smooth journeys through the Channel Tunnel at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour, and up to 186 miles per hour on the French and English parts of the trip.
The travel time under the English Channel is about twenty minutes, with the rest on the surface to view the countryside and relax.
And travel times are a breeze. London to the centre of Paris in 2 hours 15 minutes. London to the centre of Brussels, in Belgium, in 1 hour 51 minutes. London to Lille in 2 hours. With the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link, journey times have been further reduced, and are going to be reduced even more.

For timetables, fares, and to book your journey and buy your tickets online, visit

Eurostar

Eurostar has become the number one choice for trips on the London-Paris and London-Brussels routes. Today 2 out of 3 travellers from London to Paris take the Eurostar, and only 1 in 10 go for its nearest competitor, British Airways. Millions of customers travelled on Eurostar in the last year.

Eurostar has been named Train Operator of the Year at the National Rail Awards, World’s Leading Rail Service at the World Travel Awards, Best Rail Network at the Business Travel World Awards, and Best Rail Operator at the Travel Weekly Globe Awards.

State-of-the-art design enables Eurostar to carry as many passengers as two jumbo jets in the utmost of comfort.

Each train set has 18 cars: 1 in Premium Class, 5 in First Class, 10 in Standard class and 2 bar cars. The total seating capacity is 770 seats: 205 in First Class and Premium and 565 in Standard Class.

It is not only the most efficient, but the easiest way to get from city center to city center. No traffic. No airport delays. There's no longer a need to hustle through airports, find cabs and get to your destination. Eurostar will get you there quickly and comfortably.

From London Waterloo to Paris Nord, there is a Eurostar train approximately every half an hour from 5.08am to 8.16pm; the distance is 494 km (308 miles).

When you book a Eurostar train service, remember that continental Western Europe is 1 hour ahead of British time (Greenwich Mean Time).

For most trains in Europe, buying a ticket allows you to board the train, but does not guarantee you a seat: an additional reservation fee is necessary to have a guaranteed seat on the train. But unlike most other European trains, for the Eurostar the seat reservation price is included in the price of your ticket.

Fares include the price of the ticket, the reservation and, if you travel in First Premium or First class, the price of the meal.

Discounted prices of approximately 30% on your Eurostar ticket can be had with BritRail Passes and other European rail passes. Also available are special rates for children, youth, seniors and passholders. Many British and European rail passes are accepted on Eurostar: you need only purchase a passholder fare which includes the seat reservation.

The Eurostar service

No train (and very few other modes of transportation, for that matter) can match Eurostar's standards for quality of service.

Each train has up to 15 attendants, recognizable by their Eurostar uniforms which were created by French designer Balmain. The attendants are specially hired and trained for catering to your every need on board Eurostar. All of them speak fluent English.


Unlike most other trains, for which an additional reservation fee is necessary to guarantee you a seat, for the Eurostar the seat reservation price is included in the price of your ticket.

Fares include the price of the ticket, the reservation and, if you travel in First Premium or First class, the price of the meal.

Three kinds of seating are available: Premium class, First class and Standard class.

Standard Class tickets include a seat reservation; there is a food cart service and special areas where children can play.

First Class Eurostar tickets mean a seat reservation, wide, reclining seats, complimentary daily newspaper, complimentary drink and gourmet meal served at your seat, included in the price of your ticket.

Premium Class includes wide, reclining seats, complimentary daily newspaper, gourmet meal served at your seat with a greater selection of food and drink such as canapes, wine and champagne, access to Paris Gare du Nord's and London Waterloo Station's Executive lounges, and complimentary taxi transfer in Paris or London, all included in the price of your ticket.

The bar cars carry a large selection of snacks and drinks, and 4 public phones are available.

All Eurostar trains have dedicated areas for people traveling in wheelchairs, as well as special restrooms. Terminals are equipped with elevators and moving walkways.

Onboard Eurostar you can also rent a variety of movies with English and French soundtracks.

The service, the train, the Channel Tunnel crossing, the convenient schedules and the great fares all add up to a Eurostar experience worth trying, to be remembered long afterwards.

The Channel Tunnel

Eurostar speeds you through the Channel Tunnel, one of Europe's biggest infrastructure projects to date.
The $15 billion Channel Tunnel makes the old dream of a ground link between Great Britain and continental Europe a reality for the first time since the Ice Ages.
The tunnel consists of 3 interconnected tubes: 1 rail track each way plus 1 service tunnel. Its length is 31 miles, of which 23 miles are underwater. Its average depth is 150 feet under the seabed.
The channel crossing time for Eurostar is only 20 minutes.
95 miles of tunnels were dug by nearly 13,000 engineers, technicians and workers.
The volume of rubble removed from the tunnel is three times greater than that of the Cheops Pyramid in Egypt. And it has increased the size of Britain by 90 acres. Equivalent to 68 football fields, this area has been made into a park.

To be whisked under the sea through the Channel Tunnel, you can book

Eurostar