Mph but Still Three Minutes Late

Yesterday, the first passenger train to take the new 68-mile high-speed British track from the tunnel into the revamped StPancras international was all set to smash the two-hour mark between Paris and London until track maintenance at Calais forced it to slow down.

Despite the hold-up the train reached speeds of up to 205 mph and set a record for the fastest rail journey between the capitals.

Four hundred railway buffs, tourism officials and journalists were greeted with champagne, croissants and ragtime jazz at the beginning of their journey.

Halfway through the channel tunnel, the French driver handed the controls to his British counterpart, who took the train up to 200 mph over the Medway viaduct and under the Thames in a new tunnel. Shortly after it the train dived into the 12-mile London tunnel.

Tourist bosses on the train were enthusiastic. Neil Wootton, of travel company Premium Tours, said the shorter Eurostar times would help its day trips to Paris. “Part of the excitement of the American tourist market is about getting on Eurostar and being able to go under the sea. It’s amazing how many Americans get on and expect to see fish and whales from the tunnel.

It may be no less miraculous that Britain is now, finally, a small spur on the European high-speed rail network. But for those whisked from Paris to StPancras yesterday, their journey was only just beginning: with strikes paralyzing the underground and the city’s streets gridlocked, it would take many other two hours to cross London, and even more to find the slow train home.