Eurostar: The high-speed rail link turns 25 | All media content | DW | 14.11.2019

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Eurostar: The high-speed rail link turns 25

The rapid passenger rail service between London, Paris and Brussels made its maiden journey exactly 25 years ago through the Channel Tunnel. Eurostar trains have since carried more than 200 million passengers.

  • Eurostar's e320 train pictured at St Pancras Station in London

    German trains on Anglo-Franco rails

    Happy birthday, Eurostar. The high-speed rail network that connects Britain with the rest of Europe is 25 years old on Tuesday. Built by Germany's Siemens, the latest design Eurostar trains can whisk passengers from London to Paris in 2 hours 15 minutes (London to Brussels in 1 hour 50). But the Channel Tunnel that the rail services run through was a long time coming — 243 years to be precise.

  • 1851 Channel Tunnel plan by Hectar Horeau

    Tunnel vision shared by many

    In 1751, a French competition on how to cross the English Channel was won by engineer Nicolas Desmarets, who suggested building a tunnel. Another plan, dated 1802 and before the first steam locomotive, called for the construction of a deep gas-lit shaft for horse-drawn carriages with an island in between. The idea resurfaced in 1851 with the plan above by architect Hector Horeau.

  • Andre Basdevant, designer of the proposed Channel Tunnel, seen in his Paris office in 1949, with his tunnel design.

    Paper plans not realized

    In 1861 and again in 1974, attempts were made at both the French and British sides of the English Channel to start drilling. The work was quickly abandoned due to political interference. The British side was either concerned about spiraling costs or its national defense. Andre Basdevant (pictured above) made a fresh design for two rail tunnels in 1949.

  • Margaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterand at Canterbury Cathedral for the signing of the Channel Fixed Link Treaty.

    A decision is made

    In 1981, France and Britain established a working group to evaluate a privately funded Channel Tunnel project. The public favored a tunnel that cars could drive through but safety concerns led the only rail submission to be awarded the project. In 1986, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and French President Francois Mitterand signed a treaty for the building and operation of the Chunnel.

  • English Channel Tunnel worker Graham Fagg leans through the breakthrough tunnel to exchange flags with French tunnel worker Phillippe Cozette.

    Meet in the middle

    Tunneling commenced in 1988 and over the next two-and-a-half years, teams of 13,000 engineers worked with 11 tunnel boring machines from the French and British sides, digging 76 meters (249 feet) per day. The two sides broke through the service tunnel in December 1990, with engineers shaking hands 40 meters below the sea bed, 4 miles from the English coast and 10 miles from the French.

  • Man stands in the middle of partially-constructed Channel Tunnel.

    A modern wonder of the world

    The tunnel runs 37.9 kilometers (24 miles) undersea. It is made up of two 7.6-meter (25 ft) diameter rail tunnels that both the Eurostar passenger rail service and Eurotunnel's freight-laden trains ply every few minutes. In between both tunnels is a 4.8-meter diameter service shaft. In 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers hailed the tunnel as one of the seven modern Wonders of the World.

  • French President François Mitterrand welcomes Queen Elizabeth II during the inauguration of the Channel Tunnel, on May 6, 1994, in Coquelles.

    Queen Elizabeth rides one of first trains

    On May 6, 1994, Britain's Queen Elizabeth took the first Eurostar train from London to Calais where the inauguration of the Channel Tunnel took place in front of French President Mitterrand. A twice a day service from London to Paris and London to Brussels launched on November 9, 1994. The full daily schedule — hourly trains to Paris, every two hours to Brussels — began some 6 months later.

  • Picture dated 14 November 1994 shows the first Eurostar commercial train leaving the Chunnel en route to Paris.

    Warp speed and snail's paced

    While France and Belgium built a high-speed rail network, Britain delayed the extra investment that would have immediately allowed speeds of 320 kilometers per hour (200 miles per hour). Eurostar trains ran slowly through the British section for more than a decade. The opening of a new high-speed line in 2007 and a new rail terminus at London St Pancras cut the journey time to Paris by 30 minutes.

  • A Eurostar train travels through the countryside near Folkestone in Kent, south east England.

    Connections expanded

    As well as London to Paris and Brussels, Eurostar trains stop close to Disneyland Paris several times a week. Services also continue through France to Lyon and Marseille. High-speed "snow trains" whisk skiers to the French Alps during the winter months. Nearly two years ago, Eurostar expanded to include the London to Amsterdam route. The rail network carries about 10 million passengers per year.

  • Migrants walk across train tracks near the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles.

    Nonpaying passengers

    Eurostar and the tunnel often hit the headlines. Breakdowns and occasional midtunnel fires have disrupted rail services. Heavy snowfall in the lead-up to Christmas 2009 saw 75,000 passengers affected by cancellations. At Calais, the French entry to the tunnel, migrants regularly attempt to jump aboard trains to reach Britain. Customs checks following Brexit could see long queues at the tunnel.


  • Eurostar's e320 train pictured at St Pancras Station in London

    German trains on Anglo-Franco rails

    Happy birthday, Eurostar. The high-speed rail network that connects Britain with the rest of Europe is 25 years old on Tuesday. Built by Germany's Siemens, the latest design Eurostar trains can whisk passengers from London to Paris in 2 hours 15 minutes (London to Brussels in 1 hour 50). But the Channel Tunnel that the rail services run through was a long time coming — 243 years to be precise.

  • 1851 Channel Tunnel plan by Hectar Horeau

    Tunnel vision shared by many

    In 1751, a French competition on how to cross the English Channel was won by engineer Nicolas Desmarets, who suggested building a tunnel. Another plan, dated 1802 and before the first steam locomotive, called for the construction of a deep gas-lit shaft for horse-drawn carriages with an island in between. The idea resurfaced in 1851 with the plan above by architect Hector Horeau.

  • Andre Basdevant, designer of the proposed Channel Tunnel, seen in his Paris office in 1949, with his tunnel design.

    Paper plans not realized

    In 1861 and again in 1974, attempts were made at both the French and British sides of the English Channel to start drilling. The work was quickly abandoned due to political interference. The British side was either concerned about spiraling costs or its national defense. Andre Basdevant (pictured above) made a fresh design for two rail tunnels in 1949.

  • Margaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterand at Canterbury Cathedral for the signing of the Channel Fixed Link Treaty.

    A decision is made

    In 1981, France and Britain established a working group to evaluate a privately funded Channel Tunnel project. The public favored a tunnel that cars could drive through but safety concerns led the only rail submission to be awarded the project. In 1986, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and French President Francois Mitterand signed a treaty for the building and operation of the Chunnel.

  • English Channel Tunnel worker Graham Fagg leans through the breakthrough tunnel to exchange flags with French tunnel worker Phillippe Cozette.

    Meet in the middle

    Tunneling commenced in 1988 and over the next two-and-a-half years, teams of 13,000 engineers worked with 11 tunnel boring machines from the French and British sides, digging 76 meters (249 feet) per day. The two sides broke through the service tunnel in December 1990, with engineers shaking hands 40 meters below the sea bed, 4 miles from the English coast and 10 miles from the French.

  • Man stands in the middle of partially-constructed Channel Tunnel.

    A modern wonder of the world

    The tunnel runs 37.9 kilometers (24 miles) undersea. It is made up of two 7.6-meter (25 ft) diameter rail tunnels that both the Eurostar passenger rail service and Eurotunnel's freight-laden trains ply every few minutes. In between both tunnels is a 4.8-meter diameter service shaft. In 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers hailed the tunnel as one of the seven modern Wonders of the World.

  • French President François Mitterrand welcomes Queen Elizabeth II during the inauguration of the Channel Tunnel, on May 6, 1994, in Coquelles.

    Queen Elizabeth rides one of first trains

    On May 6, 1994, Britain's Queen Elizabeth took the first Eurostar train from London to Calais where the inauguration of the Channel Tunnel took place in front of French President Mitterrand. A twice a day service from London to Paris and London to Brussels launched on November 9, 1994. The full daily schedule — hourly trains to Paris, every two hours to Brussels — began some 6 months later.

  • Picture dated 14 November 1994 shows the first Eurostar commercial train leaving the Chunnel en route to Paris.

    Warp speed and snail's paced

    While France and Belgium built a high-speed rail network, Britain delayed the extra investment that would have immediately allowed speeds of 320 kilometers per hour (200 miles per hour). Eurostar trains ran slowly through the British section for more than a decade. The opening of a new high-speed line in 2007 and a new rail terminus at London St Pancras cut the journey time to Paris by 30 minutes.

  • A Eurostar train travels through the countryside near Folkestone in Kent, south east England.

    Connections expanded

    As well as London to Paris and Brussels, Eurostar trains stop close to Disneyland Paris several times a week. Services also continue through France to Lyon and Marseille. High-speed "snow trains" whisk skiers to the French Alps during the winter months. Nearly two years ago, Eurostar expanded to include the London to Amsterdam route. The rail network carries about 10 million passengers per year.

  • Migrants walk across train tracks near the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles.

    Nonpaying passengers

    Eurostar and the tunnel often hit the headlines. Breakdowns and occasional midtunnel fires have disrupted rail services. Heavy snowfall in the lead-up to Christmas 2009 saw 75,000 passengers affected by cancellations. At Calais, the French entry to the tunnel, migrants regularly attempt to jump aboard trains to reach Britain. Customs checks following Brexit could see long queues at the tunnel.


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