25 iconic images as Eurostar celebrates its 25th anniversary
It’s been 25 years since the Eurostar, which connects London Waterloo to mainland France and beyond, officially opened on November 14, 1994. Here we look back at some of the most iconic moments of the high speed train service which changed the way we travel forever.
A woodland scene is created on the Eurostar platforms to mark its 25th anniversary as the service pledges to run its first plastic-free train and plant a tree for every train journey it runs next year.
The Queen was one of the first people to ride the Eurostar from London to Paris in May 1994 – six months before it officially opened to the public. Here she is with husband Prince Philip on their first Eurostar journey.
Actress Jenny Agutter blows out the candle on the Eurostar’s first birthday cake. At this point almost three million people had taken the train between London and Paris or Brussels. That number has now surpassed 150 million.
Virgin boss Richard Branson takes his hat off to Mickey Mouse in July 1996 as he joined up with the Walt Disney icon to launch a Virgin collaboration with Eurostar to whisk passengers direct to Disneyland Paris from London Waterloo in a little over three hours.
One couple celebrated Valentine’s Day by becoming the first people to get married at the Eurostar Terminal at Ashford in Kent, before leaving for their honeymoon in Paris. Blushing bride Yvonne McMeel, 44, married her milkman Barry Cooke, 50, in the VIP lounge on the morning of 14 February, 1997.
Prince Charles with a young Prince Harry on board the Eurostar train to watch the England v Columbia FIFA World Cup match in June 1998. The tournament was won by host country France, who beat defending champions Brazil 3–0 in the final.
Cruella DeVil at Waterloo Station in London to launch Disney’s 102 Dalmations Eurostar train in 2000. All 18 coaches of the train are covered with images of Dalmation puppies and the train will be in service on the Brussels, Paris and Disneyland Paris routes.
On July 30, 2003 Eurostar set the UK rail speed record of 208 miles per hour. The 14-carriage, 600-ton train beat the previous record of 162.2mph which was set by British Rail’s ill-fated tilting Advanced Passenger Train in December 1979.
The Queen gets off the Eurostar at Gard du Nord station in 2004 as she began a three-day state visit to mark the centenary of the Entente Cordiale, the colonial-era promise of cross-channel friendship between Britain and France.
The Eurostar arrives from London on December 29, 2005, as rail services from Ashford in Kent were disrupted after a night of freezing temperatures across the south-east of England. Temperatures plunged as low as -11 degrees Celsius last night, making that December the coldest since 1996.
A Eurostar advertisement of a woman looking like Queen Elizabeth posing in the famous Marilyn Monroe airshaft scene. The campaign advertises the quick Eurostar train connection between Brussels and London. A spokesman of the Buckingham Palace, however, stated that the royal family did not think the advertisement was funny.
The Eurostar terminal moved from Waterloo and was officially opened at London St Pancras International Station by Queen Elizabeth II on November 14, 2007. Here is it all lit up to mark the special occasion.
Take That pose for photographs at the Eurostar terminal at London St Pancras station before boarding a train to attend the launch party for their 2008 album ‘The Circus’ in Paris. Celebrities are spotted on a regular basis passing through the station en route to France.
It’s not always been plain sailing for the high speed service. Here a member of staff directs queuing Eurostar passengers at St Pancras Station as Eurostar services resumed following days of cancellations due to bad weather in December 2009.
French veteran Emile Chaline arrives with other French World War II veterans on a specially chartered Eurostar in June 2010. The visit marked the 70th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle’s rousing radio appeal to his compatriots to resist the Nazi occupation in 1940.
Olympic Rings marking the London 2012 Olympics Games are painted on the entrance to the Channel Tunnel as a Eurostar train travels through, before arriving at the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, near Calais, northern France.
Eurostar celebrated the opening of ticket sales for its new year-round service to Lyon and the South of France by converting one of its carriages into a Provencal lavender field at St Pancras Station on December 11, 2014.
Nicolas Petrovic, CEO of Eurostar, unveils Eurostar’s brand new e320 fleet trains in November 2014. The event included special guests, such as chef Raymond Blanc, and a catwalk show with 20 Eurostar staff at St Pancras Station.
A passenger train operated by Eurostar travels over a viaduct as the company launch a new railway service linking London with Marseille in southern France, near Avignon, France, in May 2015.
Passengers travelling by Eurostar to London to celebrate Pride 2018 were welcomed by a rolled out rainbow carpet on the platforms at St Pancras International station. That same year Transport for London installed the trans flag on Tube benches and painted them with pride colours.
Eurostar unveiled its new venture, a hotel collection, in April 2018. It offers customers an exclusive range of hand picked hotels which are available to Eurostar passengers in one simple booking.
Tracy Emin’s ‘I Want My Time With You’ artwork is unveiled above the Eurostar terminal to mark the 150th anniversary of the train station and the 250th anniversary of the Royal Academy of Arts. Emin said she wanted to ‘make a statement that reaches out to everybody from Europe arriving to London.’
A model in a dress made from 650 fresh sunflowers in a nod to artist Van Gogh poses next to a Eurostar train on the platform at St Pancras International as Eurostar introduces third service to Amsterdam in June 2019.
Eurostar marked 100 days to its 25th anniversary by launching a ‘Press for Champagne’ button in a first for the travel industry. The first 25 travellers to press the button in August received a free glass of fizz.
Source: Read Full Article