Eurostar

Eurostar is a train service that connects London (Waterloo station) with Paris (Gare du Nord), Lille and Brussels (Gare du Midi). Trains cross the English Channel via the Channel Tunnel, or "Chunnel". The French and Belgian sections of the route use the same high-speed rail lines as the TGV and Thalys, and in England a new line is being built to the same standard. This is a two-phase project known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project (CTRL).

The first revenue-earning Eurostar trains ran in November 1994. Eurostar has established a dominant share of the market on the routes it serves — 68% for London-Paris and 63% for London-Brussels, as of November 2004. The company points out that these passenger figures represent a saving of 393,000 carbon dioxide-producing short-haul flights.

The journey time from London to Paris is currently 2 hours 35 minutes; London to Brussels is 2 hours 20 minutes. These times will be cut by 20 minutes in 2007 when the construction of the second phase of CTRL is completed, bringing the British portion of the route up to the same standards as the French and Belgian sections. Completion of the CTRL will also allow a significant increase in the number of Eurostar trains serving London. After phase two is completed, up to eight trains per hour in each direction will be able to travel from London to the continent, as timetabling will be unaffected by peak hour restrictions at London Waterloo and conflicts between Waterloo and Fawkham Junction.

Some Eurostar services stop en route at Ashford International and at Calais-Fréthun and Lille in northern France in addition to the three destination cities. Eurostar also run services to Disneyland Paris, to Avignon in summer, and - in the skiing season - to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Aime-la-Plagne and Moutiers in the French Alps.

From 2007 all Eurostar trains will be routed through the CTRL to a new London terminus at St Pancras. The company had intended to retain some services to the existing Waterloo terminal, but this was ruled out on cost grounds. Some trains will additionally serve new stations at Ebbsfleet near Dartford in northwest Kent (Ebbsfleet International station) and Stratford International station in east London (near Stratford station, or Stratford Regional station as it will be called when Stratford International station is opened)
Eurotunnel, the company that built and runs the Channel Tunnel, is a completely separate entity from Eurostar.