Almost 70 UK regions gain through ticketing onto Eurostar

Eurostar high speed trains to the Continent will be available with through tickets from UK regions from next month.

The Channel Tunnel passenger service is to offer through rail fares from 68 locations across the UK.

Tickets, which start at £67 return from Luton to Brussels or Paris, go on sale on November 14 – the day Eurostar train departures switch from Waterloo to St Pancras, close to both Euston and King’s Cross stations.

Eurostar has struck deals with East Midlands Trains, First Capital Connect, GNER and Virgin Trains to sell return fares to Paris, Brussels, Lille, Disneyland Resort Paris, 75 connecting destinations across France and to any station in Belgium.

A range of through fares has also been unveiled with Chiltern Railways and London Midland, the operator of new West Midlands rail franchise.

Eurostar believes the new fares will further boost the growing number of Channel Tunnel journeys made by travellers living in UK regions and offer competition to regional airlines.

Travellers will be able to buy tickets at prices that are as attractive as those offered by airlines, Eurostar claims.

There will be up to 17 connecting rail services a day to Paris and up to 10 a day to Brussels.

City centre-to-city centre journey times by train will match or even beat those of flying.

Standard class, return leisure fares to Paris, Brussels and Disneyland Resort Paris will start from between £67 and £92, for travel from major stations across Britain such as Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Nottingham.

Tickets will be available to purchase from mid-December via eurostar.com and participating railway company websites. Initially they will be sold by telephoning Eurostar’s call centre.

Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown said: “Eurostar’s move to St Pancras International and the introduction of through fares will open up rail travel to the Continent for millions of people living to the north of London.

“We are offering competitive prices and journey times, with fast and reliable Eurostar services with trains travelling at 186mph on High Speed 1, the UK’s first high-speed line.

“Rail will provide cost-effective, convenient and comfortable travel to mainland Europe, and all Eurostar journeys will be carbon neutral from November 14 at no extra cost to travellers.”

David Mapp, commercial director of the Association of Train Operating Compnaies, said: “The new through fares will make it far easier for people to buy tickets for travel to the Continent.

“Initially, customers will be able to buy tickets with just one phone call to the Eurostar call centre for journeys from 68 British stations to the many direct and connecting continental destinations served by Eurostar.

“The collaboration between Eurostar and Britain’s train operators is an important step in integrating UK and Continental rail travel and builds on the enormous investment in the new high-speed line and St Pancras International.”

*Lowest standard class, return fares and fastest journey times include:

Cambridge – Brussels / Paris: £71 return – journey times 3h50 / 4h00

Birmingham – Brussels / Paris: £79 – journey times 4h25 / 4h50

Manchester – Brussels / Paris: £84 – journey times 5h20 / 5h35

Luton – Brussels / Paris: £67 – journey times 3h20 / 3h40

Derby – Brussels / Paris: £77 – journey times 4h25 / 4h50

Sheffield – Brussels / Paris: £77 – journey times 5h00 / 5h25

Peterborough – Brussels / Paris: £77 – journey times 3h40 / 4h00

Leeds – Brussels / Paris £79 – journey times 5h05 / 5h35

(For travel to Disneyland Resort Paris, and to any station in Belgium, the lowest fares are the same price as for Brussels/Paris.)

by Phil Davies