On Jun 1, 5:20*pm, David Hansen
wrote:
On Mon, 1 Jun 2009 08:09:04 -0700 (PDT) someone who may be Mizter T
wrote this:-

given the quicker journey, I can imagine people being willing
to shell out on the HS1 premium so as to spend longer having a day out
in London instead of spending that time on the train getting there and
back

AOL. The difference in journey times will be dramatic. It seems to
take all day to get from London to Ashford by trains to Dover, but
it is a different thing altogether by trains going to Paris and
Brussels. I imagine lots of people will pay the premium, including
people who didn't use the train before. The difference in running
time caused by 140mph running seems to be less than 10 minutes from
a quick skim of the press release.

Just a reminder that Waterloo is only 57-59 mins to/from Ashford, with
the heart of the west end at Charing Cross only 60-63 mins away off-
peak. Plus these trains offer family- and group-friendly seating.

Even the crank in me can't get excited by the HS1 service.