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 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph) 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 (roller coaster)

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.

Ride experience

After leaving the station, the 28 passenger train makes a wide “U” turn to the lift at the back of the ride. Rides ascend the 98.91 foot chain lift hill. Once at the top of the lift, riders drop towards the right reaching speeds of 50.20 MPH at the bottom of the drop. Upon exiting the drop, the train navigates a large vertical loop that runs parallel to the lift. After the lift, riders experience a 121° overbanked left turn that leads into a zero-g roll. After the zero-g roll, riders make another left turn up into the first block brake. After exiting the block brake, riders make another left hand turn and navigate through two back-to-back corkscrews then make a right turn up into the second block brake. After the second block brake, riders experience a tight right hand downward helix and a small hill before hitting the final brake run and returning to the station.

Eurostar (satellite bus)

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.

Development