Thirty years on from its first paying passengers, Eurostar now has a fresh chance to hit its potential

By Alison Carrol, Reader in European History, Brunel University of London

Three decades ago, the first Eurostar train carrying paying passengers set off from London’s Waterloo station for Paris. While many of the headlines on November 14 1994 focused on the historic journey, others speculated about what the tunnel would mean for business and trade. Eurostar was “set to steal the airline show”, with ferry companies “bracing for the fight”. And there were hopes of a trade boost for the UK.

The predictions were part of a long history of imagining a tunnel under the English Channel and what it would mean for both Britain and France. (The first proposal was reportedly…

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