Eurostar moves to St-Pancras
Eurostar’s inaugural journey on the UK’s first high-speed tracks set a new Paris-London record as it reached the brand new St Pancras International terminal in just two hours and three minutes.
From 14 November, Eurostar passengers will no longer depart from Waterloo London and instead will need to head to St Pancras International. The new terminal, along with Ebbsfleet International in Kent, will cut travelling times to make Paris just 2 hours 15 minutes from London and Lille a mere 80 minutes away. What impact will it have on property and tourism in northeast France?
Bruno Cappelle from the Lille tourist office thinks visitor numbers will continue to grow. ‘More and more Brits visit Lille every year and the new high-speed link should only fuel this trend. Lille is a short-break destination and so shaving 20 minutes off the journey time is significant. It’s like no other French town; a charming and unique mix of French art de vivre and Flemish traditions.’
When it comes to property, local professionals are equally buoyant. Katherine Hackett of AlloKate is a property-search consultant specialising in the Pas-de-Calais department: ‘I work with a selection of agencies marketing properties in all price ranges within a 45-minute drive of Calais-Frethun Eurostar station and already prices are rising. Now, with Calais-Frethun just 55 minutes from London St Pancras, why remain living in the UK? For a shorter journey time and for considerably more reasonable housing, a family can relocate to a village house or a rural cottage in our lovely French countryside, never far from a good beach.’
For Franco-British association Opale Link, the high-speed link puts Calais into the London commuter belt, as president Thaddée Segard explains: ‘An increasing number of professionally active British nationals are now settling in this part of France, taking advantage of the lower property prices and improving cross-Channel commuter services.’
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