Eurostar has decided to shut operations at Waterloo International in London after the opening of the high-speed Channel Tunnel rail link in 2007. Previously Eurostar said they would keep some service into Waterloo, but not as a cost-containment measure it will only run trains to the new St Pancras (Kings Cross) terminus, which has excellent connections to the north of England. Passengers from south London who would find Waterloo more conveninent can connect with Eurostars after 2007 at either Stratford, Dartford or Ashford International.

Any speculation on what the new rail will do to city-to-city times?

Eurostar have been saying for years that St Pancras-Paris times from 2007 will be 135 mins, and St Pancras-Brussels will be 113 mins.

My Eurostar train to London on Monday was delayed by about ten minutes. Last year it was delayed by a good half an hour at least, if I recall.

I don't know it's my bad luck or what.

My flights between Heathrow and Newark on Virgin were also both delayed.

Actually, the real importance of the British high-speed line isn't so much the increase in speed (who really cares whether it's 135 or 150 mins to Paris?), but the high likelihood of improved reliability.

At present, the Eurostar has to share much of its lines with commuter trains. And delays on commuter trains create far more pressure on the operating companies than Eurostar delays. So if anything goes wrong - and on a network as densely used as SE England it will - Eurostar suffers.

The high-speed line will be used by far fewer trains, so even if this doesn't guarantee punctuality, it makes foul-ups less likely.

So am I right in inferring from what you've written, flanneruk, that delays on Eurostar between Paris and London are pretty common.

I was pretty surprised that the two trains I've been taken, within one year, are both delayed. Could I really be that "lucky"?

But it sounds like things will be better in two years.

Eurostar claimed 83% punctuality in Q1 2005.

Punctuality (and I'm assuming the definitions are the same) on planes to Paris and Brussels is claimed by Eurostar to be 77%.

Always depends on how they define "punctuality."

I can't remember for sure, but I think that my train to Paris last year was also slightly delayed.

This year it was right on time.

Yes it seems like Eurostars are often stuck on heavily used tracks approaching Waterloo - one reason like FlannerUK says to not use it - free up track space.

Twice our Eurostar trips were delayed and they gave us each vouchers for a future free trip. But what would we do with a voucher for a one way trip good for the next 6 months? Do they still do that? I forgot what the limit was -- because it was delayed by more than 20 minutes, or maybe a half hour?

"But what would we do with a voucher for a one way trip good for the next 6 months?"

I have an idea!

Several years ago we took the Eurostar both ways, starting in London at Waterloo. The trip over from London was wonderful, but our return was massively delayed several weeks later. It turned out that there had been several stowaways on the previous run of the Eurostar heading toward London, and that they had jumped off the train somewhere en route. One of the stowaways was rumored to have been killed in the incident, but I can't recall now if that was verified in the press. As the Eurostar was pretty well backed up after that, our return train was filled to the gills for the next trip out--with box lunches for all!

The overall ontime Eurostar rate for 2004 was 81% (ontime was defined as arriving within 10 minutes or 15 minutes, I forget which) of scheduled arrival. For comparison, the Thalys posted an 86% ontime rate (defined as arriving within 5 or 10 minutes of scheduled arrival--IOW, Thalys holds itself to tighter punctuality standards than Eurostar and still scores higher).
The move to St. Pancras has been planned for some time. Whether it actually happens by 2007 is up in the air.

Robespierre, if you're thinking about giving the voucher away, think again. The vouchers were made out to the individual passenger and to be used had to be accompanied with an original ticket bearing the same name. Since both times we got them (going from London to Paris) and we were heading home from there, there was really no value in a one way ticket on Eurostar to be used in 6 months.

Never mind. I was thinking they were like the tickets that were discussed here a few weeks ago - no name and no ID check.