Britain opens first section of high speed rail in century

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, September 17, 2003

Britain opens first section of high speed rail in century

Britain on Tuesday opened the first section of a new high-speed rail line in more than a century which links the Channel Tunnel with London.

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Britain on Tuesday opened the first section of a new high-speed rail line in more than a century which links the Channel Tunnel with London.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair accepted a certificate formally opening the high-speed section of the line at an inaugural ceremony in Waterloo Station in London.

The 46-mile (74-kilometer) first section running from the Channel Tunnel through the county of Kent, southern England, whichopens for paying passengers on Sept. 28, is the country's first-ever high-speed line.

Eurostar trains will be able to run at their full speed of 186 mph. The first half of the high-speed Channel Tunnel Rail Link will cut journey times from London to Paris and Brussels by 20 minutes.

The 46-mile first section runs from the tunnel near Folkestone,to Fawkham Junction in north Kent.

Blair, who accepted a certificate formally opening the line at Waterloo station in London, said "the work which has gone into this should give us some optimism as well as some spur about what could be done in the future."

The remainder of the line, eventually terminating at London's St. Pancras station, is due to be completed by 2007, cutting journey times by a further 20 minutes.

Britain was a pioneer in rail travel in the 19th century, but has lagged far behind its European rivals in the past decades.

Following the British government in 1996 put rail services intothe hands of a series of different private firms with Raitrack being responsible for handling out contracts to maintain tracks, stations and other infrastructure, British rail system suffered terrible woes including a spate of fatal crashes and other accidents.

Experts blamed them for decades of under-investment coupled with a botched privatization of the then-nationalized British Rail.

After problems, Railtrack was put into administration in 2001 with a new, nonprofit firm called Network Rail obliged to pick up the pieces.

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