St Pancras International has fantastic connections to London and the UK – far better than Waterloo.

It is served by six Underground lines – Victoria, Northern, Piccadilly, Circle, Hammersmith & City, and Metropolitan – so getting to St Pancras is a piece of cake.

And if you’re coming from further afield, there are also seven rail companies connecting you to the rest of the UK, operating from St Pancras International, King’s Cross and nearby Euston.

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High Speed 1 is the UK’s first high-speed line linking London and the UK to the European high-speed rail network. The project was known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), but the finished line is called High Speed 1.

The first section of the high-speed line was brought into service in September 2003, enabling Eurostar to operate at 186 mph/300 km/h in the UK for the first time.

But if you think that’s fast, on 30 July 2003, Eurostar set a new UK high-speed rail record of 208 mph/334.7 km/h!

See why we’re excited about High Speed 1?

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Thanks to High Speed 1, average journeys are at least 20 minutes faster. That means…

St Pancras International to mid-morning croissants in Paris in just 2h 15
St Pancras International to a mug of hot chocolate in Brussels in 1h 51
St Pancras International to a spot of shopping in Lille in 1h 20

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We launched our services from St Pancras International on Wednesday, 14 November 2007.

The last services to arrive at and depart from Waterloo were on 13 November 2007. Then we moved the whole operation overnight to our new central London home. It was a busy but rewarding night for us, and it meant minimal disruption for you.

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We thought long and hard about this one but eventually decided it would be too confusing, costly and complex to keep Waterloo open. There would be potential issues over different timetables, as well as high costs of running and maintaining a second terminal and depot.

Waterloo station can now return to serving domestic travellers in even greater numbers because of the extra space available.

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Absolutely. Well, sort of. In the Harry Potter books, the Hogwarts Express departs from platform 9¾ at King’s Cross railway station. But in the movie, the filmmakers decided to use the stunning Victorian Gothic architecture of next door St Pancras. Poor old King’s Cross simply couldn’t compete with St Pancras’ film star good looks.

In fact, St Pancras Station and St Pancras Chambers have featured in a number of film and television productions, including Batman Begins and the Spice Girls’ first music video.

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Yes, there are plenty of quick and easy connections to St Pancras International from Waterloo.

For travellers arriving at Waterloo or Waterloo East domestic stations, Eurostar has worked closely with London Underground to ensure the best possible tube connection between Waterloo and St Pancras International, with a journey time of about 15-20 minutes. Users of Vauxhall or London Bridge railway stations also have the option of direct tube connections to St Pancras International – it’s about a 15-20 minute journey from both stations.

In addition, the First Capital Connect service operates a direct connection to St Pancras International from December 2007.

There are also plenty of taxis at Waterloo – by road it should take around 15-20 minutes to St Pancras International.

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There’s already been massive investment in regenerating the whole King’s Cross and St Pancras area and the magnificent new station is the heart of the vibrant urban quarter.

Featuring Europe’s longest champagne bar, cafés and brasseries, upmarket shops and landscaped outdoor areas, St Pancras International has become the place to meet, eat, drink and be entertained.

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Ebbsfleet International opened shortly after we launched our services from St Pancras International. This brand new station, located less than 3 miles from junction 2 of the M25 close to the Dartford Crossing and Bluewater shopping centre, offers 2,500 car park spaces within 5 minutes’ walk of the station. There is also a high-frequency Fastrack bus service linking to local railway stations at Dartford, Greenhithe, Northfleet and Gravesend as well as Bluewater.

Journey times from Ebbsfleet International to the Continent are around 15 minutes shorter than from St Pancras International, which means…

Ebbsfleet International to a croque-monsieur in Paris in just 2h 05
Ebbsfleet International to warm waffles in Brussels in 1h 41
Ebbsfleet International to a Flemish beer (or two) in Lille in 1h 10

Early morning trains from Ebbsfleet International are timed to ensure that UK business travellers can reach Paris, Brussels or Lille in time to do a full day’s work.

Ebbsfleet International is the ideal option for the many Eurostar travellers who previously drove to their local station and used domestic rail to reach Waterloo or Waterloo East.

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Ashford International has retained three daily services to Paris and a daily service to Disneyland® Resort Paris as well as its weekly services to Avignon during the summer and the French Alps during the winter. Travellers for Brussels need to change at Lille, where there are also rail connections to the south of France and across Europe.

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Eurostar services at Stratford International will only begin when good quality road and public transport connections are in place. It won’t be possible to launch passenger services yet as the new station is located in the midst of a massive construction site for the Stratford City and Olympic developments.

However, we’re working closely with the local authority and developers and expect to launch services as soon as good transport links are up and running.

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