Independent UK: Eurostar puts Brussels within the 'two-hour club' after record rail journey

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Eurostar puts Brussels within the 'two-hour club' after record rail journey
By Michael Williams
Published: 21 September 2007


Railway historians will have to rewrite the record books after a train from Brussels to St Pancras International achieved the fastest rail journey ever between a European capital and London yesterday, knocking more than 30 minutes off the previous timing.

The 20-coach train – the first from Brussels to run on the full stretch of new £5.3bn high-speed line through Kent and east London – covered the 232 miles between the two cities in just 1 hour, 43 minutes, 53 seconds. When the new line opens to the public in November, a trip from London to the Belgian capital will take 1 hour, 51 minutes – faster than to Manchester and a similar travelling time to Nottingham, which is 100 miles closer.

Earlier this month, a Eurostar train slashed the journey time from Paris to London, setting a record time of 2 hours, 3 minutes, 39 seconds between the two capitals, so ancient rivalries were at stake as the train packed with dignitaries and other guests pulled out of Brussels Midi at 11.05am yesterday. Although the French performance had been impressive, it had just failed to break the two-hour barrier. Could little Belgium do better?

There had been signal problems inside the tunnel earlier in the morning, and a nervous Richard Brown, chief executive of Eurostar, told guests he was keeping his fingers crossed. But SNCB driver Luc Stocx had a twinkle in his eye as he waved back at guests on the platform. He leant on the throttle at 186mph all the way through Flanders, only having to slow on the approach to the port of Calais, where there was a speed restriction because of subsidence caused by First World War trenches.

Midway through the tunnel he handed over to Waterloo driver David Green, who kept up the pace. Timing buffs were busy consulting their handheld GPS devices, as the train whizzed through Kent and under the Thames. East London's Stratford, which will have a major new station serving the 2012 Olympics, passed by in a flash.

As the train pulled in just before 11.50am ( UK time), the gloriously restored St Pancras was wearing her best clothes. The sun shone through the 18,000 newly-installed panes of glass in William Barlow's great iron roof, now repainted in glorious sky blue. A band played on the platform. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/article2984783.ece