Next year will be the 30th anniversary of Eurostar train services between London and Paris, with this year marking 30 years since the tunnel beneath the English Channel (La Manche) was opened. I remember the early days of Eurostar, when I marvelled that the trains a few platforms away at Waterloo were on their way to France. Luckily for me, in 2007 Eurostar moved to newly-refurbished St Pancras which is a 15-minute walk from my front door. Suddenly the rest of Europe really was on my doorstep.
Direct and indirect links
So far I’ve travelled directly from London to Paris, Brussels and Rotterdam. I’m determined to take a trip on Eurostar to Lille and Amsterdam, although the latter route is currently scheduled to close from June 2024 to May 2025 due to Amsterdam Central refurbishment (pressure is being put on Dutch decision-makers to come up with a better solution). 1 hour 22 minutes from London to Lilles. Bearing in mind the 90-minute recommended pre-departure arrival time at St Pancras I could be closing my front door at 9am and entering a Rue des Bouchers restaurant for lunch just three hours later.
I’ve also taken numerous indirect train trips beginning with Eurostar. London to Paris to Venice (on a sleeper train service which sadly no longer runs), London to Paris to Lausanne, London to Brussels to Antwerp, London to Brussels to Bruges, London to Paris to Luxembourg. Eurostar really does open a continent full of possibilities, especially when combined with various sleeper train services.
I love that you can take a Eurostar service to the Alps, I only wish that, as someone who doesn’t participate in winter sports, this was a service that operated year-round.
Much ado about nothing
So often I read people complaining about the queues at St Pancras. Yes, queuing can be frustrating, yes, there is insufficient seating and yes, squeezing so many passengers into an old beer barrel storage area isn’t fantastic planning. But, compared to airport experiences, travelling from St Pancras (or Garde du Nord, Brussels Midi, Rotterdam Centraal) is smooth, unstressful and time-efficient. Of course, Brexit has made the process more complicated.
Travelling from Paris to other destinations in the continent often involves a change of station, which also (as an abled person), is not just unproblematic but an opportunity to enjoy the French capital. Gare du Nord to Gare de L’Est is, according to Google, a 10-minute walk and, according to me, an excellent excuse to stop and enjoy lunch at somewhere such as Cafe De L’Est (this was my first post-pandemic meal abroad and so I have a special affection for it).
Arriving into Gare Du Nord and departing from a station in a different part of the city involves either a short metro journey, or an excuse to briefly absorb the Parisian vibe.
I undertook the one-hour walk to Gare De Lyon – it’s a direct eight-minute ride on the metro – in order to grab some boulangerie treats for my onwards journey to Switzerland. What an enjoyable day that was, what a delight and privilege to hop across from my home city to one country before being mesmerised by the view on my way to another.
Train is better than plane
Like most, I can’t afford anything above Economy class when flying. Planes are therefore cramped, hard to move around and next to impossible to find space to work. While I have an unusual affection for airline food, on Eurostar I have a menu to choose from at any time I wish and can briefly swap my seat for a lean against the cafe’s window-side counter. Perhaps this could spark conversations with fellow passengers that aren’t along the lines of “could I please squeeze past you” and “would you mind not kicking the back of my seat”.
There is no turbulence on the rails. In fact, the journey is very smooth despite hurtling along at up to 300kph (186 mph). OK, the WiFi on Eurostar is awful, but it’s not so great at 35,000 feet either. If I really need a leg stretch Eurostar trains are 394 metres (1,293 ft) long, over four times the length of a Boeing 777. Eurostar bathrooms are spacious and plentiful. Windows are large. I’m not particularly tall, but I can certainly appreciate the greater legroom on Eurostar vs even the best airlines.
Then, of course, there are environmental considerations. You’ll be adding 6g of Co2 to the atmosphere for every km travelled on Eurostar, compared with 255g when flying (source). Although I advocate for responsible travel, I should say that I do still support the aviation industry, just not when there are decent alternatives.
Price
Hmm, this is where the “train is better than plane” argument usually falls down. It’s hard to compete with £23 flights to Paris. But, if you’re going to putting baggage in the hold, Eurostar suddenly becomes very competitive. And then there’s any costs associated with getting to/from the airport compared to arriving on a train into the centre of a city.
Taking advantage of Eurostar sales (I’m writing this on a day when Eurostar has a sale, one-way tickets from £35) and travelling at off-peak times can really bring down the price. If travelling to St Pancras from other parts of the country then check out London International (CIV) fares, as excellently explained on the Man in Seat 61 website.
All things considered
For the comfort, convenience and environmental responsibility that Eurostar offers it is, for me, absolutely worth paying a little extra to use this service. I’ve been taking the train to the continent for many years and can’t think of a single bad experience. In fact, every journey has been enjoyable, something I most definitely can’t say about flying. It’s just hugely disappointing that dogs aren’t allowed and bikes must be disassembled when travelling between London and Paris.
My biggest disappointment? Politicians. Both at home and abroad they seem determined to undermine the UK’s only train link with the rest of Europe. Eurostar’s reaching out to, and love of, the rest of Europe really is the antithesis of Brexit.
As mentioned above, the service to the Netherlands is under threat, the Disneyland Paris stop is soon due to come to an end, Ashford International and Ebbsfleet stations no longer have Eurostar stopping at them, and we no longer have the option to travel direct to Avignon, Lyon, Marseille, plans for Eurostar services all the way up to Scotland never happened.
There is such enormous potential for this long-running service. I will remain optimistic that, with such strong public desire for better travel and environmental responsibility, Eurostar will one day return to old routes and introduce new destinations.
A Plan To Go 