Lifestyle

39 iconic images celebrating Eurostar’s 25th anniversary



Today, November 14, marks 25 years since the Eurostar service began running trains between London’s Waterloo and Paris Gare du Nord, Brussels-Midi/Zuid and Lille Europe. 

The Eurotunnel, linking the French mainland to the UK, began its development six years prior in 1988, before finishing in 1993. 

The Queen was one of the first patrons of the Eurostar, taking a trip on the London to Paris service in May 1994, six months before it was available to the public. 

Eurostar was also well ahead of the sustainability pack, in 2006 it was announced that all Eurostar journeys are carbon neutral (meaning all carbon emissions from the trains were offset to an equal amount), and it pledged to reduce its overall carbon emissions 25 per cent by 2012. 

Just over a decade after the first Eurostar trains took off from Waterloo, it moved to its new home at London’s St Pancras International in 2007. This was the same year it also set new speed records thanks to the completion of a new high speed rail line, travelling from London to Paris in 2 hours 15 minutes, and London to Brussels in just 1 hour 51 minutes.

In 2018, Eurostar launched its new London to Amsterdam route, which it credited with seeing a 7 per cent rise in passenger numbers that year. 

Earlier this year, Mike Cooper, chief executive of Eurostar, said in a statement: “Over the last 25 years Eurostar has led the way in cross-Channel travel, cementing the links between the UK and mainland Europe. The popularity of our new service between London and Amsterdam shows the growing appetite among customers for international high-speed rail travel and a sustainable alternative to the airlines.”

Click through the gallery above to see iconic images from 25 years of Eurostar. 



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