St Pancras

[Gardian]

Just thought it worth mentioning that this has been a fantastic civil engineering project.  Sure, taking 20 mins off journey times is helpful, but to me the station (and the tunnelled approach to it) is the big story.

As a young railway enthusiast, St Pancras was always my least favourite London station. It just never caught the imagination.  I probably never looked up!

Having witnessed the work going on around the area in recent years, you had a feel for the major change that was going to take place. That sculpture 'The Meeting Place' looks sensational and almost worth the fare just to see - an enormous act of faith by the builders to spend £1M on it, but worth every penny.

Now Eurostar have to capitalise on the euphoria.  The trains are busy for the next few months, but it won't last unless they get their finger out and market it properly. It's not just about Paris & Brussels (nice as they are), it's also about connecting traffic on to other destinations in France and elsewhere in Europe. Competitive pricing, targeted advertising, service reliability (French Unions should take note).

[Gemonimo]

Quite agree with you Gardian. I hope it is a great success and that the fares will compete with the low cost airlines. I just love trains - fast, slow, I don't care. It's the ambiance that is just not there when you fly. Jen

[cooperlola]

I used to work in that glorious building - the hotel above St Pancras station.  I was lucky enough to be able to walk around under the station roof, and also in the cellars - in those days full of one of the best caches of wine in Britain - belonging to British Transport Hotels (whose press office I worked in.)  Sadly the hotel itself was a crumbling and ill-maintained office building then but still glorious and well worth a nose around.

I love the Eurostar.  Although the fare deals don't always look that attractive, some of the add-on connections make it better than you think.  For instance, it costs just 1 euro to travel from Le Mans to Paris if your going on to catch the London train.  For a real treat, go first class and get a lovely meal and free booze thrown in!

[Cat]

I had an email offer yesterday, 77 euros for a return ticket on Eurostar, Paris - London.  You have to stay a Saturday or Sunday night in the UK to qualify for the low fare but still a great deal.

There are still tickets available at that price on the SNCF website http://www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/_SvTermCommVoySaisie?_TMS=1195120117525&_DLG=SvTermCommVoySaisie&_LANG=FR&_AGENCY=VSC

When you consider that tax and luggage are included in the fair, it compares favourably with the low-cost airlines. 

[Cendrillon]

Some of you may have seen the programme on BBC2 last night and the night before "The 800 Million Pound Railway Station" it was a really great insite into the conversion and I believe there will be more of the programmes next week.