Today I was a passenger on the first Eurostar train to carry passengers on the High-Speed rail link through Kent.
I had volunteered to take part in the evacuation exercise within the tunnels and had assumed this was beneath the channel. Unfortunately the evacuation exercise was for the new tunnels under London and the Thames. Not nearly so good a talking point. More disappointing to for my mate Andrew Jones who was probably thinking that he had been invited under false pretences. The passengers were nearly all men, most of whom were carrying expensive cameras and camcorders. We also got to see the newly redeveloped St. Pancras station which is still under construction.
The evacuations went smoothly without any noticeable problems and then it was on to the first high-speed passenger train journey in the UK. We made the journey from Folkestone through Ebbsfleet to London in about 21 minutes. The ride was smooth and the speed hardly noticeable until you watched as the cars on the motorway were being left far behind. The train manager announced that we were doing 300 km/h and a small, self conscious cheer went up from the passengers. At this point Andy said he could not let the opportunity pass for another first and he headed off to the toilet for his first 300 km/h pee. The experience was obviously a good one as Andrew returned grinning from ear to ear.
Andrew over exagerates the effects of travelling at 300km/h