Eurostar
Eurostar are committed to changing the way people travel. Their launch in 1994 saw the way people travel to Paris and Brussels change forever – doubling the amount of visitors traveling from London to both these cities. Today Eurostar offers connecting services to over 100 destinations across Europe.
Eurostar is the high-speed rail service directly linking the UK to France and Belgium via the Channel Tunnel, providing city centre to city centre services.
On 14th November 2007, Eurostar launched services from its new London station, St Pancras International with the completion of the second section of the UK’s first high-speed line. Following the move Eurostar’s fastest journey times have fallen with London-Paris taking 2 hours 15 minutes, London-Brussels 1 hour 51 minutes and London-Lille just 1 hour 20 minutes.
Eurostar runs up to 17 services to Paris and ten to Brussels daily. In addition, up to nine trains stop at Lille in northern France, and up to three services stop at Calais Frethun en route.
To establish the Eurostar service, it was necessary to overcome significant rail network differences between the UK, France and Belgium. European rail networks primarily focus on domestic services, employing different technologies, for example, in power supply and signaling, as well as in commercial areas such as ticket distribution systems. Eurostar has successfully overcome all these obstacles, operating safely and efficiently across the three territories.
Eurostar has been at the leading edge of innovation in the rail industry, setting new standards for travel by train. It was one of the first rail operators to introduce business lounges and a loyalty program. It offers a number of advantages over other forms of transport, including seamless city centre to city centre travel, excellent frequency of services, greater punctuality in service than competitors, comfort and space, time efficiency, fast and convenient check-in and a transparent and generous compensation policy, in the event of delay or cancellation.
Eurostar have also commited to Green Tourism, and on 17 April 2006 launched the ‘Tread Lightly’ initiative. This means that all Eurostar journeys to/from St Pancras International are carbon neutral. Eurostar also pledges to reduce its overall carbon emissions by 25% by 2012.
World Travel Awards are delighted to partner with Eurostar in 2008, a company who truly prioritize excellence in the travel industry.
