channel train
 

Please , information needed. How far in advance must I reserve and what procedure do I need to follow to book the channel train from London to Paris on April 29 and from where do we board in London?

Thank you!

You board the Chunnel Train, not Channel Train, in London St Pancras International Station, adjoining Kings Cross station. You can book up to nine months in advance and should book as early as possible as the cheaper fares of this Byzantine fare structure get snapped up very early- there are a zillion different fare types with a limited number of seats at each level. Just show up and full fare can literally be hundreds of bucks more expensive than the book early fares. Try for a midweek day for best cheap fare availability.

For the best fares, usually, try www.eurostar.com for fares in British Pounds - you can easily book online and get an e-ticket similar to airlines. I always also advise to check fares thru RailEurope.com, the Eurostar (official name of Chunnel Trains) agent in the U.S. - Though fares now often seem cheaper at www.eurostar.com IME this is not always true and i always say at least check RailEurope fares as there seems to be no correlation between fare structures thru RE and Eurostar.com - take whatever is best. RE is also an e-ticket so no mailing fees should apply. Actually the RE site is IME and from complaints of others here does not always portray accurate fares and folks may be e-mailed back that a fare is higher, for whatever reason. I always recommend calling RE and having a manual search of their Eurostar data base done - to find what are really the actual fares that time. Unfortunately RE i understand charges +10% of the ticket price to book by phone and IME RE phone agents are not always that knowledgeable about the trains, boarding,etc themselves. I suggest contacting www.budgeteuropetravel.com and asking one of their agents, really helpful IME,to do a manual search of RailEurope fares and also ask any questions like you did in the OP. But do not fear using eurostar.com as this seems, from comments here, easy to use and usually, but not always, they have cheaper fares than RailEurope. But booking early as possible is the key and again try to plan for a midweek departure as demand Tu-Thu is much less i think than on Fri thru Mon.

Very good information. Thank you very much!!!

Thanks for the comprehensive reply...bookmarking.

You board the Chunnel Train, not Channel Train

You were quite right to say Channel Tunnel rather than Chunnel.
Palenque likes to insist on the naff term, especially when he's been drinking paint.
He only does it to annoy because he knows (or rather thinks) it teases.

I'm sorry the first person who saw your thread was our resident paint-drinking sot. His info about trains is usually spot on (except for an unnatural obsession w/ passes). But his correcting you about the name of the train was just plain wrong/goofy.

You are fine calling it the Channel train as anyone would understand what you meant - though 'Eurostar' is the official name.

Now PQ will come back w/ all sorts of examples of "chunnel" in popular usage. Doesn't make it correct.

Nobody in the UK calls it the Chunnel Train. Maybe they do overseas. It's the Eurostar which runs through the Channel Tunnel.

The earlier you book, the less you will pay. Also if you travel mid week or at times when less people travel, say midday, you will also pay less.

Kay

English media did indeed coin the phrase Chunnel- clever truncations of Channel Tunnel

janis- a Channel Train would have to literally cross the water of the channel, right dear?

anyway this is an American forum so do not disparage folks who use Chunnel, the term most Americans use for the Channel Tunnel and janis, yes this does make the use of Chunnel correct here - on a British forum Channel Tunnel would be the correct version.

Capiche?

>>Capiche?<<

A wearingly long time ago. That paint's well dry, we don't need to watch it any more.

Yawn, yawn here we go again... He won't accept it, but nobody in the UK calls it the Chunnel, it's a newspaper headline writer's invention perpetuated by foreigners who have maybe a few days a year experience of being in the UK. Oh and I love the bit about the German-owned internet forum being somehow a little corner of the USA - how does that make any sense at all?

Even most of us Yanks don't call it the Chunnel - so PQs argument is just wrong on so many fronts . . . .

Maybe we can get him in rehab???

Kamaoleman,

Checkout the other thread that I started referring to 1st vs. 2nd class. Useful info on that thread too.

Tunnel Sous la Manche

My only point is that if i, and many Americans on Fodor's chose to use the word we automatically use with the Channel Tunnen - "Chunnel" then what is wrong with that? It may not be 'right' in Merry Ole England but it is over here - well there is not correct term when talking about colloquial English used here - so i saw whatever folks use why the carping over using it?

The Eurostar can be booked 90 days in advance NOT 9 months! Why is Palenque giving advice on a service he never appears to have used?

Eurostar, Eurostar, Eurostar! Not the Channel or even the Chunnel - Both revolting names for this wonderful "Star" train service.

In the UK we call it Eurostar

In France they call it Eurostar
In Belgium they call it Eurostar
Eurostar is the name on the train cars, pamphlets, etc.

It is indeed Eurostar - not to be confused with Eurostar Italia trains - guess FIAT licensed the name Eurostar to the London-Paris/Brussels trains and owns the trademark -not positive but that's my understanding.

And shcalland - if you do not know what you are talking about maybe not talk - Eurostar trains can indeed be booked up to nine months in advance.

Gosh, the term 'Channel Train' takes me back... For a brief period around 1990, 'Channel Train' was a brand name invented for the traditional 'boat trains' that ran from London Victoria to Dover & Folkestone to connect with the ferries to Calais or Ostend for onward trains to Brussels or Paris... I was acting Station Manager Dover for a month, and we had natty little 'Channel Train' badges and leaflets were all branded 'Channel Train'. All gone now, Eurostar started in 1994 and 7 hours of train, ferry and train with just three or four services day have become an hourly direct high-speed train through the tunnel taking just 2 hours 15 minutes.

Dearie me, I remember the Golden Arrow - streamlined steam engines and all....