Paul Terry said:
I've often wondered whether St Pancras, let alone Stratford, was a
wise
decision by Eurostar. .........an awful lot of passengers prefer the
convenience of
Waterloo because they are
1. Wealthy retired from SW London off for a short break.
2. 2. Businessmen and civil servants from along the Thames Valley.
3. 3. Short-stay French tourists who appreciate alighting on the South
Bank
and within walking distance of numerous tourist attractions.
Whether St Pancras will have any of the same appeal will remain to be
seen.
I agree that Waterloo is a better station for the service.
I don't think Eurostar chose St Pancras, if I remember there were 3
routes and politicians decided on the route through Stratford hoping
it would help regenerate the area.
When Eurostar first started, it was to have a High-speed line through
Lewisham and into Waterloo, some if it in tunnel. However some
Lewisham local residence objected about possible noise from the trains
so the service got started with a normal speed line. The Lewisham High
speed line never got built.
Eurostar did consider continuing to use Waterloo after St Pancras
opened but decided it would be too expensive to serve 2 central London
stations.
I agree that Waterloo is a much better station to run the service
from, (although some French do not like the name!).
Waterloo is good for tourist attractions, and the station was purpose
built for Eurostar trains, unlike St Pancras, which was built for
steam trains.
I doubt if Stratford will be used much, if at all, by Eurostar
trains.No one wants to get on a High speed intercity train and have it
stop a few minutes after starting its journey. I think the station was
put there for political reasons as an incitement to get the line built
though East London. Part of Stratford's regeneration.
The time cut on the journey is not much considering all the expense
involved in building the line and converting St Pancras station.
I think they should have converted the line into Waterloo to overhead
electric and not third rail. (This would save train maintenance costs,
and avoid the slow down spot where the train changes current). Try to
make it as fast as possible and built additional track where space
allowed.
Too late now.
I shall be sorry to lose the Waterloo service.

John