Text 2.   a tale of two cities

 

More than a decade ago, we changed the way people travel to Paris and Brussels forever. In fact, we've doubled the amount of visitors travelling from London to both these cities.

In 2005, with connecting services giving us links to over 100 destinations across Europe, we're continuing to change the way people travel. Here's where you can find out how.

Introduction

Eurostar is the high-speed rail service directly linking the UK to France and Belgium via the Channel Tunnel. It started operating in 1994, providing city centre to city centre services.

The fastest London-Paris Eurostar journey time is 2 hours 35 minutes, London-Brussels 2 hours 15 minutes and London-Lille just 1 hour 40 minutes.

Eurostar runs up to 16 services to Paris and nine to Brussels daily. In addition, up to nine trains stop at Lille in northern France, and up to four services stop at Calais Frethun en route. Also, up to 14 trains call daily at the terminal at Ashford International, which serves as the principal passenger gateway from Kent.

There are direct daily services from Waterloo and Ashford to the gates of Disneyland Resort Paris and, during the winter holiday season, Eurostar operates two services every week from Waterloo and Ashford to Moutiers and Bourg St Maurice in the French Alps. Eurostar also runs a direct service to Avignon in Provence on Saturdays during the Summer.

In addition, Eurostar offers connecting tickets to over 100 destinations across France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. For example, Lyon can be reached in five hours from London and Marseille in seven hours. Brussels Midi is the gateway for the Netherlands and Germany with easy connections to Amsterdam (about six hours from London) and Cologne (about five hours).

All Eurostar tickets to / from Brussels are valid for travel to/ from any Belgian
station at no extra cost.

In 2007 the second section of the new UK high-speed rail line will open. St Pancras International will become Eurostar's new London home and create a high-speed link to the Continent from the heart of the city.

The completion of the UK high-speed line will further reduce journey times and open up international rail services to anyone living north of London.

Fastest London-Paris journey time will be 2 hours 15 minutes, London-Brussels 1 hour 53 minutes and London-Lille 1 hour 20 minutes.

Eurostar's ticket prices vary to meet all budgets. Leisure travellers enjoy the cheapest fares - with permanent lead-in short break fares from £59 return.

Since starting operations in November 1994, Eurostar has more than doubled the total number of passengers travelling (by air or rail) between London and Paris/Brussels. In ten years Eurostar has carried over 60 million passengers.

In September 2003, Eurostar began carrying guide dogs on its services from London Waterloo to Paris and Brussels. In April 2005, Eurostar began carrying other assistance dogs.

To establish the Eurostar service, it was necessary to overcome significant rail network differences between the UK, France and Belgium. European rail networks primarily focus on domestic services, employing different technologies, for example, in power supply and signalling, as well as in commercial areas such as ticket

distribution systems. Eurostar has successfully overcome all these obstacles, operating safely and efficiently across the three territories.

Setting new standards for international train travel

Eurostar has been at the leading edge of innovation in the rail industry, setting new standards for travel by train. It was one of the first rail operators to introduce business lounges and a loyalty programme.

It has successfully built up a significant market share by offering a number of advantages over other forms of transport. These include:

seamless city centre to city centre travel, frequency of services, greater punctuality in service than competitors, comfort and space, time efficiency - door to door journey times are faster than air, cost competitiveness, fast and convenient check-in. 10 minute check-in for Business Premier passengers, arrival in city centre, no queues, no baggage reclaim, transparent and generous compensation policy, in the event of delay or cancellation, benefits for regular users as part of Eurostar Frequent Traveller loyalty scheme, including free travel as well as offers from a range of exclusive partners chosen to give a flavour of Eurostar's destinations, terminal and train reinvention.

Eurostar is investing £35 million in a refurbishment programme which will cover all aspects of the service including rolling stock interiors, lounges, terminals, ticket offices, check-in, crockery, the visual identity and staff uniforms. The programme is being implemented in all three countries.

From 1 September 2005 Eurostar has divided its first class into separate business and leisure carriages, seating travelers depending on their key reason for traveling. The new classes are Business Premier and Leisure Select. Eurostar also offers standard class.

In February 2004, Eurostar introduced new uniforms for terminal staff and on-board train crew, designed by Jacqueline de Baer.

Eurostar launched its first refurbished train in September 2004. All carriages have been refurbished. UK and Continental power sockets have been introduced throughout Business Premier and Leisure Select and in selected standard class coaches. Business Premier and Leisure Select also boast snooze-friendly pillows and push-button reclining seats. All 27 trains in the Eurostar fleet are being refurbished.

Eurostar trains have the capacity to operate at a maximum speed of 186 miles per hour or 300 km per hour on the UK high-speed line and the high-speed lines in France and Belgium.

On 30 July 2003, Eurostar broke the UK rail speed record with a test train reaching 208.0 miles per hour or 334.7 km per hour on the new UK high-speed line. Market Share

• Eurostar has, since 1994, established itself as the leading carrier to Brussels and Paris and has the largest share of the rail/air market on its core routes despite intense competition. Eurostar has 69% of the London-Paris rail/air market and 62% of the London-Brussels rail/air market.

• Award-winning advertising campaigns have also helped to build a strong brand with high levels of awareness and favourability. Eurostar is now also focusing on the business travel market, with good value fares and flexible tickets.

86% of Eurostar trains arrived on time or early in the first six months of 2005. previous year. These figures are much higher than the punctuality data for Eurostar's airline competitors.

Eurostar currently operates a fleet of 27 trains between the UK and France/Belgium. In addition, three Eurostar trains are being used on domestic services in France and a fourth is based in Belgium. Seven regional train sets are owned in the UK. Some of these are leased to GNER for services between London and Yorkshire while others are used for testing.

Eurostar trains are 400 metres long and comprise 18 passenger carriages and two power cars. There are 750 seats on each train, almost equivalent to capacity levels of two 747 Boeing planes. Of the seats, 544 are in standard class and 206 in Business Premier and Leisure Select. The regional sets are shorter with 14 passenger carriages. These have 444 standard class seats and 114 first class.

The length of Eurostar trains cannot be reduced or extended depending on passenger loadings. Therefore load factor is not seen as a key indicator of Eurostar performance as it may be with airlines, which are able to deploy different sizes of aircraft.

Eurostar has an excellent safety record with each of its trains having a number of safety features that make it one of the safest trains in the world.

«The fireproofing systems for safe transit through the Channel Tunnel are unique. These include the extensive use of fire resistant materials, heavy gauge insulation of cables and fire doors between each carriage.

The driving cab features modem train protection systems, including the French automatic system, which is used on the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The UK standard TPWS system has been fitted.

All on board crew (Train Managers and Drivers) are trained in first aid.