One year till Waterloo loses Eurostar rail service

Eurostar has confirmed that it will move its London terminal from Waterloo to St Pancras overnight on 13/14 November 2007 – the thirteenth anniversary of the opening of Waterloo International in 1994.

The move to St Pancras will allow Eurostar services to take advantage of the long-awaited Channel Tunnel Rail Link, to be known as High Speed 1.

Journey times between London, Paris and Brussels will be reduced by an average of between 23 and 25 minutes.

"This move will be the most significant event in Eurostar's history since we started running passenger services 12 years ago today," says Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown.

"It will mark the start of a new era in travel between the UK and mainland Europe, making high-speed rail an even faster, more reliable and less environmentally damaging alternative to flying.

"We announced in 2004 that we had fully considered and rejected the option of operating from two London stations because it would be more complex, costly and confusing.

"The counter-balancing benefits of the move mean that the international platforms provide the potential to significantly ease the existing domestic rail congestion at Waterloo, providing better punctuality for over 120 million commuters a year."

Eurostar bosses insist that Waterloo enjoys "a wide choice of quick connections" to St Pancras International, and "[no passengers] should face longer door-to-door journey times than at present".