High Speed 1

The Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act of 1996 authorised the project and London and Continental Railways (LCR) to build and operate the high speed link.

In October 1998, section 1, from Waterloo to the Channel Tunnel was completed, and in 2003 the line was open for business.

The second section of the project was to bring the line under the Thames, through east London, ending up at St Pancras. This phase began in 2001.

Section 2 of the line runs through the Ebbsfleet Valley passes under river in two 3km single-track tunnels.

By 2003 the first tunnel bore had been completed (March 4th) and track laying commenced.

2006 saw all the track work completed and testing could begin.

Work on the new six platform station was completed in September 2006. In 2007, the station opened for international Eurostar services that will take as little as 2hr 5min to reach Paris, 1h 41min to Brussels and just 1h 10min to Lille.

The first international services from Ebbsfleet International ran on 19th November 2007. Eurostar services from the new St. Pancras station began on 14th November.