Passengers will soon be able to travel between London and Germany by train, following a successful trial of a Deutsche Bahn (DB) service through the Channel Tunnel.
The “Chunnel”, which runs under the sea between England and France, is currently only used for Eurostar services and freight trains but is set to be used for DB services to and from Germany from 2013.
DB says it plans to operate return journeys between Frankfurt and London via Cologne, Brussels and Lille, with the full journey taking just more than four hours. The schedule will also include connections from Amsterdam to London, via Rotterdam, with a journey time of less than four hours.
DB says it will be using the most advanced high-speed trains in Europe, with a top speed of 320km/h.
In London, the services will depart from and terminate at St Pancras station, which is on the London Underground network.
High speed rail services are increasingly replacing flights within Europe, with air services discontinued on many routes. DB, in partnership with other rail operators, carries more than 40,000 passengers a day on services within Europe.
This article is an excerpt from Jane E. Fraser’s weekly travel column in The Sun Herald, Sydney.
How exciting is that….!I remember crossing the channel by ship