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Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. 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 at Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International in Kent. Calling points in France are Calais-Fréthun and Lille-Europe, with the main Paris terminus 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, and to seasonal destinations in southern France.
The service is operated by 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. (Full article...)
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Frank Pick (23 November 1878 – 7 November 1941) was managing director of the Underground Group (UERL) from 1928 to 1933 and was chief executive officer and vice-chairman of the London Passenger Transport Board from its creation in 1933 until 1940. Pick began his career with the UERL in 1906 as assistant to the managing director Sir George Gibb, by 1908 he had become publicity officer and became commercial manager in 1912. Pick steered the development of the London Underground's corporate identity by commissioning eye-catching commercial art, graphic design and modern architecture, establishing a highly recognisable brand. Elements of the brand commissioned by Pick included the Underground roundel, the Johnston typeface and Charles Holden's iconic stations of the 1920s and 1930s.
Pick was described by architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner as "the greatest patron of the arts whom this century has so far produced in England, and indeed the ideal patron of our age." Pick's interest in design extended beyond his own organisation and he was a founding member and later served as President of the Design and Industries Association. He was also the first chairman of the Council for Art and Industry. He is commemorated with a memorial at Piccadilly Circus station, a blue plaque at his home in Highgate and with Frank Pick House, a London Underground engineering facility near Acton Town station. (Full article...)
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- ...that Sir Jacob Epstein's statute Day on the Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway caused controversy when it was unveiled due to the length of the penis on one of the figures? Epstein later reduced the length.
- ...that at 44 tons, the locomotives of the Central London Railway's first underground trains were so heavy that they shook buildings as they passed 60 feet below and were scrapped after three years?
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Image 1The multi-level junction between the M23 and M25 motorways near Merstham in Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 2Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
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Image 3A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
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Image 4Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
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Image 5The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
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Image 6The newly constructed junction of the Westway ( A40) and the West Cross Route ( A3220) at White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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Image 7Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 8London General Omnibus Company B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during World War I, this vehicle was operated on the Western Front.
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Image 9"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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Image 10Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
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Image 14Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 15Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 17Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
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Image 18Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
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Image 19London Underground A60 Stock (left) and 1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 2055 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
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Image 21Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 22Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 23Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
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Image 24Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
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Image 25Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 26The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
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Image 27TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
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Image 29Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 30Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
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Image 31View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
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Image 32Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 33Sailing ships at West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the Canary Wharf development.
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Image 35London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 38The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 39The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
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Image 41Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 43Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 46Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
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Image 47Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
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Image 48Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
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Image 49The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
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