In December last year I was invited to sample the new high speed link between St. Pancras and Brussels courtesy of the Brussels Convention Bureau and Eurostar. As someone who used to work for an American multinational with its European headquarters in Brussels, I thought I knew everything there was to know about the city and almost declined. How glad I was that I changed my mind!
The excellent TV programmes highlighting the transformation of the old Victorian edifice that was St Pancras into the International hub it is today, played its part in convincing me that I just had to see things for myself. Even the prospect of an early start, from 'up north' to catch the Eurostar at 8.00am, did little to dampen my resolve.
Our train arrived at Kings Cross at 7.00am and the leisurely stroll from there to the new International Terminal took all of five minutes, leaving us 20 minutes to enjoy a coffee and indulge in a spot of 'crowd spotting' before check in began.
Putting our luggage through the x-ray machine and having our passports checked was a painless experience and after queuing for less than 10 minutes we were sitting in a comfortable seat waiting for the boarding call. When this came, the helpful Eurostar staff helped us find our seats, no problem with legroom here, and secure our luggage.
At exactly the appointed hour, the train pulled out of St. Pancras. No hassle, no delays and very little waiting about. Within minutes the train had reached its top speed of 186 mph and yet there was little sensation of movement - a really smooth ride. Exactly 1 hour and 51 minutes later, we arrived at Brussels Midi Station.
Brussels has changed a lot since I was last there. Our hosts produced a programme that was interspersed with an exhibition, some venue visits, excellent hotels and lots of good food and drink. This was rounded off with an excellent guided bus tour of the sites of the city, new and old, that I recommend to anyone.
The return journey was just as painless and although we made two stops, at Lille and at the new Eurostar terminal at Ebbsfleet the journey only took 2 hours and 10 minutes. This allowed an easy connection with our train north making a total journey time of 3 hours and forty minutes.
The actual getting there has been the bane of overseas travel in recent years. With Eurostar it is a very pleasant experience. So much so that we are set to repeat the trip at our own expense, later this month. This time, we will use our tickets to visit to Bruges. This is included in the ticket price because our journey is being made within 24 hours of arriving in Brussels.
High Speed European Travel via St. Pancras can now be accessed from a choice of 68 stations across the UK paying only one fare. It's fast, it's pleasant and its greener and, year to date 94% of its trains have arrived on time!
Ambient Event Limited, through its European partners organises Mini Conference packages in Belgium and Holland using Eurostar and its partner train operators.