Channel Tunnel Rail Link section 1—an overview

British prime minister Tony Blair opened the first 74 km section of the new £5·2 billion high-speed rail link between the Channel Tunnel and London in September 2003. It has cut 20 minutes from the Eurostar service to Europe and brings Paris to just over 2·5 hours from London. This paper provides an overview of the design and construction of the first section, which has set new records for infrastructure as well as a wide range of new operational, safety and environmental standards for future high-speed rail projects in the UK.