THOUGHTS ON A EUROSTAR DAY TRIP FROM LONDON TO PARIS

On Friday 2nd December 1994 I visited Paris by train from London by 
Eurostar, the new train service that runs via the Channel Tunnel.

The London international terminal is at Waterloo, next to the domestic 
station. Indeed, part of the domestic station (the Windsor line platforms) 
was demolished to fit the international terminal in. The entrance is below 
the level of the domestic terminal, reached by stairs, lifts or escalators. 
The Eurostar ticket office is opposite, below the domestic concourse.

Check in could not be easier. The tickets are a little larger than airline 
tickets but about the size of a boarding pass. You stuff your ticket into a 
hole in the front of the gate and after a few seconds the ticket is returned 
from the same hole ; users of the London Underground beware ! The gate opens 
and in you go.

An x-ray facility follows, along with the metal detecting doorway. Then 
you're into the departure lounge. Loads of seats and shops still being 
fitted out, although W.H. Smith have someone in a shop shell selling 
newspapers. Most of the catering units are, however, open already. 
Travelling on a Friday, most of the 790 plus seats on my train had been sold 
and the lounge was getting crowded by the time the train was opened for 
boarding. When the full service is operating and people are arriving for two 
trains to Paris and two to Brussels on the Friday before a holiday, I feel 
it could get very crowded.

When the train opens for boarding the doors in the departure lounge are 
opened and escalators carry you to the platform above. There are three sets 
of doors and the television monitors relate your carriage number to the 
appropriate door. There are no barriers on the platform, so if you use the 
wrong door you can still walk along the platform to get to your carriage.

The roof of Waterloo International covers almost the entire length of the 
trains, which are almost a quarter of a mile long. Very impressive they 
look, too. To my British eyes they look better than the "real" TGV stock and 
are probably the best design since the InterCity 125 high speed diesel 
trains appeared.

On the outward leg I travelled in an "airline" seat (i.e. one which faced 
the same way as the one in front) and found the leg room to be better than 
many domestic trains and most airlines in economy. The seats do not recline, 
but you can swing a foot rest down from the back of the seat in front. When 
I tried this it pushed my knees into the seat in front, but for someone less 
than my six foot two the footrest might be a good idea. A reasonable sized 
table folds down from the seat in front.

On the return leg I sat at one of the two tables available in each 2nd class 
carriage. You don't get a foot rest and, if the seat opposite is occupied, 
the leg room is very cramped. The edge of the table folds up to make getting 
into the seat easier, but be careful not to trap your fingers as you put the 
table back down.

The aisle was wider than is common in UK standard class, but the seats were 
slightly narrower. You can easily end up fighting for a share of the arm 
rest between you and the person next to you, but since they can be raised 
out of the way this one was easily solved !

All standard class seating is 2 + 2. Seat covering is in grey with yellow 
highlights and looks quite good.

The air conditioning was impressive, although being a mild day in December 
the weather didn't really test it on my trip.

The ride from London was excellent. So good, in fact, that members of my 
group felt we were going too slowly and would be late, but my stopwatch 
showed we were travelling at 90mph at the time.

We slowed to about 20mph on the approach to the tunnel and so had a good 
view of the Folkestone terminal. We accelerated into the tunnel and cleared 
the French portal in 20 minutes 12 seconds ; this was a slow transit judging 
by some reports I have seen. The tunnel is a real non-event. The trains have 
excellent sound insulation and the tunnel walls are not even close to the 
train, so the sound levels hardly change. Our return journey was in the dark 
and I had trouble working out exactly when we entered and left the tunnel.

Before we entered the tunnel the train captain announced (in French and 
English) that we should adjust our watches, French time being an hour later 
than UK time. Before we reached Lille he had announced that we were running 
at 300 km/h. The ride at this speed was a little more lively, but the 
journey to the buffet was still not difficult. Indeed, I have had worse 
rides at 110mph on the Midland Main Line.

The buffet only carries a relatively limited range, but it appears to be 
carefully selected. 30 minutes out of Waterloo and the egg and bacon muffins 
were sold out, but I can recommend the cheese and ham toasted sandwiches. 
After trying them on the way home, I can also recommend the muffins. Coffee 
is closer to the British standard than the spoon rotting concentrate common 
in France !

Buffet prices were very expensive to British eyes. A can of Coke was 85p 
compared to 69p on British trains and about 35p in supermarkets.

A trolley service of drinks and cold food operates in 2nd class and 
effectively blocks the aisle. They are worked by one person each (two 
trolleys normally operate in each half of the train) and on a crowded train 
they spend more time letting people pass than they do selling.

Buffet and trolleys accept four different currencies as far as I could tell. 
They use hand held computers to enter your purchases, calculate your bill 
and print your receipt. All very clever, but the beeps get to you after a 
while.

The toilets are chemical retention units ; venting to track at 186mph is 
hardly an option ! I had no problems on the way out, although the toilet 
paper is a little hard for my liking, but on the return trip I found one 
compartment with a heater stuck full on and another where the hot air hand 
drier didn't work. There are no towels ; I suddenly understood why the door 
lock had been wet when I entered !!

Arrival at Paris Gare de Nord was on time (alright, ten seconds late). The 
platforms are lower in France than in the UK, but Eurostar includes steps 
that swing out to make leaving the train an acceptable experience. The 
shortage of doors (only one per carriage) does make this a slow process, 
however.

After a pleasant day in Paris, trying out the local food and shops, we 
returned to the station. Ticket gates were the same as in Waterloo, but we 
were not subject to x-rays this time.

Gare de Nord has four platforms allocated to Eurostar services (Waterloo has 
five) and these are separated from the rest of the station by high, 
transparent walls or chain-link fencing. Only about a third of the train 
length is covered by the station roof, so be prepared to get wet in 
inclement weather. Ironically, with first class in the middle of the train, 
the first class ticket holders are guaranteed exposure to the elements.

We were allowed to board the train about 25 minutes before departure. Access 
is from a walkway above platform level, using stairs and escalators.

The French are clearly much less concerned about international travel than 
the British. Not only did they omit to check our luggage for bombs, they 
didn't inspect our passports. We only realised this when the British 
authorities did so on the return trip.

All luggage not kept with you on the train must be placed on luggage racks 
at the end of the carriages and MUST have a label. This shows the train 
number, your name, carriage number and seat number. Thus train staff can 
confirm ownership quickly of any bag which they are not happy about. The 
labels are similar to those supplied by airlines and are free with your 
tickets, although more are available at the terminals.

Customs at Waterloo was in evidence more than in France (where we just 
streamed off the platform) but much less obvious than at most airports I 
have travelled through. Our arrival in London was thirty seconds late ; all 
in all, a very impressive performance.

I understand that the service will start building up from the current two 
trains each way per day from 22nd January 1995. From my experience, I can 
thoroughly recommend this as a way of travelling between London and 
Paris/Lille/Brussels. It is slightly quicker than air, less of a rip off, 
avoids the Piccadilly line and allows you to work undisturbed for three 
hours. You can move about more and the toilets are less cramped. Oh, and 
your ears pop less !

Next time (and I'm certainly going to make sure there IS a next time) I 
intend to save my pennies and try out the first class. 2 + 1 seating which 
looks more comfortable than my reclining armchair at home, lamps at each 
table and a full meal included in the price. Now that's what I call life.

Bob Machon
CIS: 100322,2771
6th December 1994