15/11/2007 05:36:24
Eurostar trains are into their second day of operation from London's St Pancras International station.
The European service, which until yesterday was based from Waterloo on the South Bank, moved to the newly-restored station 13 years to the day after the first Waterloo to Paris train left London in 1994.
The move has enabled the service to use the High Speed 1 track that was tested in September, allowing trains to travel the 68 miles through Kent to the Channel Tunnel at speeds of up to 186 mph.
Monday 19 November will see the opening of the new Ebbsfleet International station, which will give Gravesend commuters a 15-minute commute to central London. The station, which is near the M25 and the Bluewater shopping complex, has some 9,000 parking spaces. It offers journey times to Europe that are ten minutes faster than from St Pancras.