UNDER THE SEA WITH EUROSTAR
International operator Eurostar has just celebrated 25 years of carrying rail passengers through the Channel Tunnel. RICHARD CLINNICK looks back at the past 25 years and looks forward to what Eurostar is planning next
Early on November 14, the only original Class 373 Trans-Marche Eurostar train left St Pancras International for Paris Gare Du Nord. It was the first departure on a celebratory day for the company.
The set (one of those ordered by Belgian operator SNCB) still retains its original interior, first seen by cross-Channel passengers some 25 years ago.
But much else has changed in the intervening years, with the building of Britain’s first high-speed line, the changing of international terminals in the UK, the introduction of new destinations and new trains, the possibility of competition, and now the UK’s eventual departure from the European Union.
In RAIL 238 (October 1994), it was reported that European Passenger Services (EPS) planned to launch its ‘Discovery’ service on November 14 1994, which had been made possible following the awarding of the AngloFrench Intergovernmental commission licence to Eurotunnel, to allow the operation of the London-Paris/Brussels service.
That decision had been made on October 12 1994. Five days later, press conferences were held simultaneously in London, Paris and Brussels by the three companies involved in Eurostar at the time (EPS, French operator SNCF and SNCB).
The initial launch was for two trains per weekday in each direction between London and Paris Gare Du Nord, and the same number between London and Brussels Midi. There was also one return per day between London and Lille.
In those days, Eurostar trains would serve Waterloo International (which was especially constructed on redundant railway land), with the ‘373s’ running along the third-rail system to the Tunnel, rather than on HS1 as today.
Incredibly, engineering works disrupted the trains before they even launched, when it was confirmed that initially trains would not run on Saturdays owing to work in the Tunnel. The Sunday service was limited to one train in each direction to each of the destinations, apart from Lille.
Much like today’s plan for HS2, this was only an initial service - the plan was to build up the service to hourly to Brussels and Paris. The full service was launched from May 28 1995. The following year Eurostar began serving Ashford International.
The launch did not go well, with the first train failing just two minutes before its scheduled departure from Waterloo International. Up to 30 television crews and 400 media representatives were on hand to witness the embarrassment. The problem was a software issue on set 373003, and a replacement had to be summoned from North Pole depot (which Eurostar used until 2007).
The managing director of EPS at the time was Richard Edgley. He explained on the day that a back-up set was supposed to be at Waterloo, in a copy of the inaugural trip in May 1994 when Her Majesty The Queen travelled under the Channel.
But the mood was still mostly jolly. Graham Hill, from the BBC’s World Service, said after the arrival of the launch service: “The rest of the world must have been wondering why we didn’t do this years ago. It reminds me of flying - tremendously exciting. We are an island no more.”
Over the years, more destinations were added - Lyon, Marseille and Marne-laVallee (near Paris, for Euro Disney), as well as winter trains to the Alps. However, the planned Regional Eurostar to Manchester Piccadilly and Edinburgh using 14-coach Class 373s never ran. High Speed Trains were used initially on these services, running from Waterloo, but low passenger numbers meant they ceased in January 1997.
The Department for Transport refused to subsidise the trains, and this - combined with the rise in low-cost airlines - led to the project being abandoned. A depot had been constructed at Longsight (Manchester) for the ‘373s’, but this is now used by CAF for Trans Pennine Express trains.
September 16 2003 was a big day for Eurostar, when then-Prime Minister Tony Blair officially opened Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) Section 1. This was the first part of what is now High Speed 1.
Construction had started some five years earlier, and it meant the ‘373s’ could now run at their designed 300kph (186mph) speed in the UK. Journey times were cut by 20 minutes following the introduction of the 46-mile line from Fawkham Junction to the Tunnel.
At the opening, Blair said of HS1, which had been at risk due to spiralling cost: “We don’t associate these phrases [on time and on budget] with civil engineering or railway projects in this country. This project gives optimism as to what we can do in the future.”
Fast forward four years, and the rest of HS1 opened. Overnight on November 13/14 2007, operations transferred from Waterloo to St Pancras International, which had been rebuilt in an £ 800 million project, while maintenance transferred from North Pole to a new depot at Temple Mills.
The final train from the original terminus was the 1812 to Brussels, and the first from St Pancras was the 1101 to Paris using 373107/108.
The next major change was unveiled in October 2010, when Eurostar unveiled its plans for what became the e320, built by Siemens ( RAIL 655).
An initial order was placed for ten trains (two pairs per train), with delivery
planned for 2014. At the same time, it was confirmed that the Class 373s would be refurbished, with the rest scrapped.
Then-Eurostar Chief Executive Nicolas Petrovic said: “This is the opening of a new chapter. It is a new era for rail. By 2014 we will have the best fleet of high-speed trains in Europe.”
At the launch event on October 7 2010, Secretary of State for Transport Philip Hammond said he hoped Eurostar would run from other UK cities, but this has not materialised.
Immediately after the announcement of the e320s, the French government raised concerns over safety, due to the train’s distributed power. This was eventually resolved, and the first e320s (classified Class 374s) were delivered for testing in 2013.
The first moved to the UK the following year and was unveiled to the press in November 2014, at which time it was confirmed that a further seven trains had been ordered. They entered passenger traffic from November 2015, and are used on the London-Paris/ Brussels/Amsterdam routes. They offer a 20% increase in capacity against the ‘373s’.
On April 4 2018, the first commercial trains began running between London and Amsterdam. Current Eurostar Chief