Anyone who says (or even thinks) that a flight is more comfortable than a train journey has no experience of flying. Unless, that is, we are talking about first classs flights, which are far more expensive than Eurostar. I travel from London to Paris regularly and I have taken the journey by boat/train, flight (1st and 2nd class) and Eurostar. Eurostar is quicker, more comfortable and far, far less stressful. Book your Eurostar well in advance and enjoy a comfortable, inexpensive way of getting to/from Paris. No, I do not work for British Rail, S.N..C.F. etc!

Marc, St. Barths, France

Have passengers in the south not heard of the Ebbsfleet and Stratford stations? Eurostar clearly has som advertsing to do.
Also, what is the point in the "check-in"?

Tom, Bath, UK

It will have more than two trains-per-hour from 2009 when the "Javelin" units which will halve journey times between Kent and St Pancras arrive. Now let's plan for "High Speed 2" linking London with the West Midlands and North.

Dr Simon Jeffs, Eastbourne, UK

Saving a few minutes at the cost of comfort (...swaying... lurching,... stink of brakes...) seems a little daft.
In Germany such trains have driven much more comfortable and indeed reliable ones off the timetable. Next time I travel from South to North Germany a flight will be cheaper and more comfortable.
In Italy there is still a choice.
In principle train travel is great.
What about some competitive fares between London and other European cities?

Christopher Vipiteno/Sterzing

Stembridge, Vipiteno, Italy

What's the use of speeding from Paris to Londen in two hours if you have to leave 400 passangers behind to achieve this ? Eurostar is losing € 25,000 a year on the Brussels to London run. It is carrying two thirds of all passangers between Brussels and London but it's the taxpayer who is paying the bill. The airlines are not allowed to receive any subisdies. Therefore they have to make money. Flying from Brussels to London City still takes only 50 minutes and the airline is making money on it.

Herman De Wulf, Merchtem, Belgium

Why did you bother to convert every speed to mph? The whole of Eurostar uses km/h. As an aussie owned paper, you should be aware that much of the English speaking workld is now metric too....it's only us and the yanks who refuse to go metric!

Luke, London, UK

America could learn a lesson from the France and Brits, when we run out of oil, people in Europe don't have to worry, they have a excelent train system to get around on. That is all of Europe. Here in Florida they can't even build a train sytem from Tampa to Orlando and Miami, to expensive they say, just wait an other ten years when we run out of oil.

Steve, Tarpon Springs, Florida

Great. For commuters like me who live in SW London, Richmond to be precise, the 30 mn gained on the Eurostar journey is more than offset by the extra time required to trek to St Pancras.

The UK is still way behind France and the rest of the continent in developping high-speed lines -which are green alternative to air travel for domestic destinations...

Ludovic Windsor, Richmond,

The streets around Kings Cross have already been improved a great deal, though there is still much to be done.

Oliver Chettle, Bedford,

This what is needed in the U.S. a reliable high-speed form of transportation, and non-polluting form, all the more better. These forms of transportation can and would provide relief in the crowded sky's. I don't no about England and the rest of Europe, but it's a real traffic jam in the America's especially in Nprth America. Anyway well done, this is a great mode of transportation.

robert pelton, Federal Way, Washington, U.S.A

It is noticeable how the people south of London begrudge the majority of the country's population getting a better service. A sort of reverse Nimbyism.

Brian Leeming, HUNTINGDON, UK

I wonder why we have spent so much money, digging up half of Kent and burrowing under London, just to save 20 minutes.
The saving could have been achieved for nothing, simply by getting Eurostar to abandon their pretence of being an airline - complex time wasting check-ins included. Returning from Paris doesn't involve all this complexity, so why is it needed in London?

Mike Bibby, St Albans, Engladn -not EU

I'll be darned, 15 minutes faster than a journey to Waterloo - well thats a great investment.

Farrukh, Woking, UK

From November, the station at Ashford, Kent, will become a white elephant with very few Eurostars stopping. To get to Paris it'll mean a stopping train to Victoria, 30 mins across London by tube (if they're not on strike) and then a 25 minutes high speed Eurostar to flash past Ashford. All that after years of wrecking the Kent countryside with the work to build the new line. Just great!
From the people of Kent - thanks for nothing.

Barry Freeman , Kent , UK

Glad about the journey pity about the repoerter. It seems to me he was only interested in the downside - maybe the lack of the trolley upset him.
For us north of London it will change jounreys beyond measure.
At present it is necassary to allow 2hrs for transfer from Kings Cross to Waterloo.

Bryan Grantham, Lincolnshire, UK

How is this progress for those of us South of the River? We've now got to travel all the way to St Pancras instead of the much easier journey to Waterloo. How many millions did it cost to give us Southerners a WORSE service?

Dave, Croydon,

So, that's 20 minutes less on the train and an hour or so extra to get anywhere in London from the wasteland around King's Cross / St. Pancras. All for just 5.8 billion. Great achievement, really.....

Chris, London,

Fantastic news, a great achievement, - but what a shame that tourists and businessmen will have to disgorge out into one of the filthiest, most crime ridden parts of norf London.

Martin, Horsham, West Sussex

why dont they reduce the fares to increase the traffic on the line to the predicted numbers, get the lines packed with commuters and travellers and then increase the frequency on the back of that growth? this 59 pounds return rubbish is a farce.

g, london, uk

Excellent news! Lets hope this new service opens the British public's eyes to the idea of building more high speed lines in the UK, like the Greengauge21 proposal to extend the line from London to Birmingham and Manchester for domestic as well as international services. There's no doubt that the huge boost in capacity they'd provide is needed and the improved journey times would attract passengers away from these ridiculous domestic flights.

Richard, Oxford, UK

Good luck to Eurostar but they have not yet grasped the concept of point to point travel the way the low cost airlines have. Yes, there are £59 return fares available - provided you select out and return dates at the same time.

But try booking a one way fare and see if you can get the £29.50 which shows each way if you select a return fare!

Seloect the one way button and suddenly that fare shoots up to the standard flexible one way fare at £154.50!

David Grant, Belfast,

Glad we don't have anything like that here in America, where the trains are slow, tickets cost more that plane flights, and resemble the cars in Cuba.

</sarcasm>

todd, philadelphia, pa, usa

sounds reckless and terrifying.

helen macdonald, st.sauveur, Quebec Canada