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EUROSTAR TERMINAL
St. Pancras "Chunnel" High Speed London to Paris / Brussels

You roll along smooth and breathlessly quiet past fields of green and yellow squares of the now ubiquitous Rape weed as the world races past at about 185 miles an hour. Then, the scenery goes dark and black for about 20 minutes as you pass under the English Channel, then more green fields, then the outlying streets of Paris. You’ve just taken the Eurostar high speed “Chunnel” train from London to Paris. The Eurostar high speed train began its trans-channel service between London and Paris and Brussels in November from the newly refurbished St. Pancras station international rail terminal. Located on the north side of London, St. Pancras was one of the grand old stations in Victorian England, but had fallen into second class status as a terminal as international rail travel arrived and departed from Waterloo Station. A massive rebuilding effort has turned the minster-like façade of St. Pancras into an International rail terminal with modern improvements to the old station. St Pancras's track platforms actually doubled for King’s Cross Station in the Harry Potter movies, but a new glass arched ceiling adds light to the central concourse with new upscale shops and restaurants.

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Travel time from London to Paris is reduced by 15-20 minutes through the new dedicated tunnels under the city to the “chunnel” trans-channel crossing. The Gare du Nord remains the Paris terminal of the high speed line. A trip from St. Pancras to the Gare du Nord will take about two and a quarter hours. A trip from London to Brussels will take just under 2 hours.

Why take the Eurostar instead of flying. Convenience and comfort. A chance to chat with your friends, family and others on your journey. Check-in for the high speed train is 30 minutes, a little more if you have a lot of baggage. You get on in one city and get off in the middle of the other, a short cab or subway ride to your hotel. No need for airport transfer bus or rail trips. There are more seats available. The Eurostar has a 91% on-time performance. And for those environmentally conscious "green" travelers the Eurostar boasts that its "carbon neutral".

What about cost?

If budget travel is your main concern there are a few things to consider. A restricted ticket is like an economy air ticket, a set travel date and time. A Flexible ticket means you can change the time or date. The exchange rate keeps adjusting, but costs for a Eurostar London to Paris ticket in dollars ranges from about $130 for second class restricted to about $220 for restricted First Class and $430 for Premier First Class Service. A Round Trip ticket is not much more than one way as a lot of passangers only go one way. If you have a Eurail Pass for travel in Europe, without a Rail Pass the normal price ranges from $170 to $400. If you are willing to be flexible with your travel times, cheaper tickets are available for certain less popular travel times.

Having a Rail Pass reduces the regular ticket price by 50% (See How Rail Passes Work). If you’re traveling for vacation and pleasure look for a train outside of business rush hours for a cheaper ticket. Seating is all reserved on the Eurostar so the more in advance you get a ticket the more seats will be available. You can just show up and get a ticket at the ticket window, but don’t expect the cheapest price. Holders of Eurail Pass get a 50% discount on Eurostar tickets.

Though St. Pancras may be a more convenient terminal for Eurostar international trains to connect to trains from St. Pancras and Kings Cross stations to points north of London, it is a little bit north of the central heart of the city. Transportation to the tourist and business center of London will take some time to settle in and a bit longer. The tube stop for St Pancras is from the underground station at King’s Cross Station next door and a few tube stops before arriving at the heart of tourist London.

A grand new luxury hotel is under construction in connection with the international rail terminal, but with the old St. Pancras and Kings Cross stations combination being more prosaic in the past than its new incarnation, there are a number of small budget private tourist class hotels in the neighborhood, located in two streets to the south of Euston Road. A Tourist Information booth is across the street with room vacancies for a short stopover. A Premier Travel Inn is located a few blocks away on Euston Road and the Novotel London Euston provides a business class hotel environment two block west of Kings Cross.

Since it opened in 1994 the Eurostar “Chunnel” Train has been whisking travelers underneath the English Channel between London and Paris or to Lille or Brussels. The romance of the train under the channel is perhaps a little more than the experience. You never actually see the English Channel.

Compared to Flying

An airline ticket from London to Paris on British Airways from Heathrow to Charles DeGaule will cost between $90 and $180 for Economy, but there are baggage weight restrictions for checked baggage at the lower economy price and it is non-refundable, so if you have a lot of luggage add more for the air ticket or if you want change dates, tough. The flight is an hour, but getting to the airports on both ends and boarding times, plan about 4 hours, and add transfer costs of about $35-50. A discount flight from an airport like Stansted add another 30 minutes, and with new airport fees the ticket price will be about $70-110 but add more transfer costs and beware of tighter baggage restrictions. (See Discount Airlines). © Bargain Travel Europe

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