What is "eurostar"

Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Avignon, Brussels, Lille, Lyon, Marseille and Paris. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel.

The London terminus is St Pancras International, with the other British calling points being Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International in Kent. Calling points in France are Calais-Fréthun and Lille-Europe, with trains to Paris terminating at Gare du Nord. Trains to Belgium terminate at Midi/Zuid station in Brussels. In addition, there are limited services from London to Disneyland Paris at Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy, services to southern France as of 1 May 2015 and seasonal services to the Alps in winter.

The service is operated by 27 eighteen-coach Class 373/1 trains which run at up to on a network of high-speed lines. The LGV Nord line in France opened before Eurostar services began in 1994, and newer lines enabling faster journeys were added later— HSL 1 in Belgium and High Speed 1 in southern England. The French and Belgian parts of the network are shared with Paris–Brussels Thalys services and also with TGV trains. In the United Kingdom the two-stage Channel Tunnel Rail Link project was completed on 14 November 2007 and renamed High Speed 1, when the London terminus of Eurostar transferred from Waterloo International to St Pancras International.

Eurostar was until 2010 operated jointly by the national railway companies of France and Belgium, SNCF and SNCB/NMBS, and Eurostar (UK) Ltd (EUKL), a subsidiary of London and Continental Railways (LCR), which also owned the high-speed infrastructure and stations on the British side. Eurostar has become the dominant operator on the routes that it operates, carrying more passengers than all airlines combined. Other operators have expressed an interest in starting competing services following deregulation in 2010. On 1 September 2010, Eurostar was incorporated as a single corporate entity called Eurostar International Limited (EIL), replacing the joint operation between EUKL, SNCF and SNCB/NMBS. EIL is owned by SNCF (55%), LCR (40%) and SNCB/NMBS (5%).

In June 2014, the UK shareholding in Eurostar International Limited was transferred from London and Continental Railways / Department for Transport to HM Treasury. In October 2014, it was announced that the UK government planned to raise £300 million by selling that stake. In March 2015, the UK government announced that it will be selling its 40% share to an Anglo-Canadian consortium. If the sale goes ahead, the ownership of Eurostar International will be SNCF (55%), (30%), Hermes Infrastructure (10%) and SNCB (5%).

Eurostar may refer to:

Eurostar was a unique portable inverted roller coaster. From 1995 to 2008, it traveled on the fairground circuit in Germany. From 2008 until 2011 it was operating at Gorky Park, Moscow, in Russia. In 2011 it was closed and dismantled. It was the first and largest portable inverted roller coaster. Eurostar was the brain child of Oscar Bruch. Bruch had created and/or operated many portable coasters including, Alpina Bahn, Looping Star and Thriller. The Inverted coaster was becoming increasingly popular in the mid ‘90s, having been introduced to the theme park market by Bolliger & Mabillard. However, B&M were reluctant to attempt a travelling model, and so EuroStar was designed by Werner Stengel from a rough layout designed by Bruch. Aspects of the ride were built by many companies from across Europe (hence the name), under the directorship of the Swiss ride firm Intamin.

Eurostar is a satellite bus made by Airbus Defence and Space (formerly Astrium) which has been used for a series of spacecraft providing telecommunications services in geosynchronous orbit (GEO). More than 70 Eurostar satellites have been ordered to date, of which more than 55 have been successfully launched since October 1990 and have proven highly reliable in operational service. In December 2013, the Eurostar satellites accumulated 500 years of successful operations in orbit. The Eurostar spacecraft series is designed for a variety of telecommunications needs including fixed services and broadcast, mobile services, broadband and secured communications.