London: High-speed rail travel between Britain and continental Europe zoomed into a new era today as Eurostar trains began operating between Paris and a newly-renovated high-tech London hub. The first Eurostar pulled out of St Pancras station headed for Paris bang on time at 1103 GMT, while the popping of champagne corks awaited the first Eurostar arriving from Brussels a few minutes later.

While transport strikes gripped France, Britain s rail chiefs were celebrating for once, with the christening of St Pancras which has undergone a sweeping transformation from a crumbling Victorian terminus into a glitzy terminal. "Today marks a new dawn for short-haul travel in Europe," said Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown. "We will carry passengers with greater speed, ease and reliability than ever before."

The new station opened to the public at 9:00 am local time, a day after services stopped at Waterloo, the station on the south side of central London which has been the British end of the line since services began in 1994. The switch to St Pancras, on the north side, will make it easier for passengers from the English Midlands, northern England and Scotland to connect to the continent.

The move is the culmination of a 5.8-billion-pound, 10-year project to speed up travel to Britain from France and Belgium. The new 109-kilometre High Speed 1 rail line between St Pancras and the tunnel under the English Channel waterway enables Eurostar trains to hit their full speed of 300 kilometres per hour.

Source : PTI