Continent now just a train trip away

Rail journeys from the UK to the continent could soon be a viable alternative to air travel for increasingly far flung destinations.

Eurostar has announced that it has agreed a deal with six countries to offer fast connections and through tickets that would see Amsterdam reachable in three-and-a-half hours, down from almost five hours.

The move, which has been made under the Rail Team banner, means that journey times will be cut dramatically from the UK to France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland from 2008 onwards, when a number of new European lines are completed.

By introducing a synchronised timetable, passengers will be able to easily change trains at Lille or Brussels to reach their destinations.

With the introduction of a high-speed line from London St Pancras to the Channel Tunnel in November 2007, trains will no longer have to wind their way slowly through the environs of south London and Kent before getting up to full 186 mph speed in France.

The new St Pancras link will see Paris reachable in two hours and 15 minutes and Brussels in an hour and 51 minutes.