Yep, Brussels Midi (or Brussels South) station is the one you want for the Eurostar service back to
London. I was staying in the handily-placed Ibis Hotel just outside, though tbh, this entrance,
past the abandoned scooter and remnants of the night-befores takeaways isn’t the best approach.
The opposite entrance to the north-west is much nicer I think.
I was up pretty-early (about 7 o’clock) and as you can see it was fairly quiet
but Eurostar had advised me to be at the station 45-60 minutes before departure as checks were
taking longer than usual because of the impact of Brexit and the dreaded c-word! Well my departure
time wasn’t until 08:52 but I thought I’d play it safe as I hadn’t used this station before.
The underground concourse is fairly bland - large departure boards and various shopping outlets
aside from that, I was glad to be making my way towards the Eurostar ‘channel terminal’ which was located
right at the north-west end of the station through the automatic doors with the teapot on them.
It was Easter when I filmed this and staff were handing out small Easter eggs in the
arrivals hall which was a nice touch. Once through security there’s airport-style duty free areas
after which a departures hall is located which is a pretty gloomy affair tbh, looks like it’s in the
process of being refurbed. Eurostar information is here along with the Business Premier lounge.
There was wifi available (allegedly) but this was pretty woeful. And there didn’t appear to be any
power charging anywhere. All-in-all, this area is rather poor and needs improvement in my opinion.
Well, we were called for boarding around 20 minutes before departure. A random queue
began to form from where priority boarding went first then the rest of us who dawdled
up to a nearby escalator which then took us up to platform level where our train was waiting.
I walked all the way up to the front of the train which was a bit of a slog in itself because
these Class 374’s (also known as the Eurostar e320’s) are 390 metres long!
In service since 2015, the train sets consist of 16 cars with a capacity of 902 seats in three
classes: Business, Standard Premier and Standard. I would be travelling in Standard class today.
Worth the trek though wasn’t it? I thought she looked stunning in the early morning sun.
Anyway it was time to get on board so follow me
and we’ll go and have a look at what’s in store for us shall we.
And as you can see, standard class is laid out in a 2:2 configuration and first impressions are that
they are quite roomy (thanks to the larger loading gauge in mainland Europe I guess).
My ticket was for coach 9 but I didn’t bother with that as there was loads of available
seating today so I just found an unreserved airline-style seat and plonked myself in that.
There were leather-style antimacassars on all seats which themselves had a
subtle moquette and good padding in all areas.
As you can see, there is decent leg room, an airline style pouch for your bits and pieces
and a footrest for, well, you know, getting in the way of your feet!
A good-sized drop-down table is also provided.
OK so we left Brussels bang on time and, by this stage I was dying for a cup of tea. So
it was a good excuse to head on up to the cafe-bar - cafe Metropole and enjoy the views from there.
There was a decent enough selection of drinks and snacks to be found at the sort
of prices you would expect to pay onboard a train in western europe. I’ll pop a link to
the onboard menu in the description below. I had a croissant with my tea - cost was £4.70.
There’s limited standing room only in this area - no seating - not even any stools!
Tbh it’s pretty basic when you compare it to the superb offering on something
like the DB Railways ICE services which are in a completely different class tbf.
I tried out the wifi whilst I was here which was easy enough to connect to
but there was no real reason to linger for too long in the cafe bar and from
what I saw, most people tended to purchase something and take it back to their seats.
Anyway, we were doing just under 300 km/h at this point and you know it hardly felt
like the train was moving. Have to say, the ride quality in my opinion was exemplary.
The scenery outside wasn’t really anything special tbh so I thought I’d have a wander up
to the front of the train and see if I could have a look at the Business Premier/Standard Premier
sections in coaches 1 to 3. Now as I walked through the remaining standard class coaches,
note the generous full-length overhead luggage racks and storage space near both vestibules.
Obviously these trains carry a lot of travellers with a lot of luggage,
and I think there’s more than adequate provision to facilitate this.
Now onto the posh coaches which are laid out in the expected 2:1 configuration
and a mixture of airline style and table seating.
And what do you think of the table design - it’s similar to that in standard class but a
bit of a weird shape in my opinion. I guess it affords better leg room with the angled sides.
I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Business/Standard Premier tbh.
It was quiet enough and there were a few magazines available.
The one or two passengers I did see were being served a continental-style breakfast
but I wasn’t sure whether they were on a business or standard premier ticket.
The display shows business premier and I presume both classes of ticket share the same coach but
have different levels of service. I stand to be corrected on all of this so please if you know how
it works, let me know in the comments below. What I do know is it is significantly more expensive
to travel business premier with some prices nearing £300 for one way ticket on this route.
Anyway, before I got asked to leave, I did get the chance to check out the toilet
so here’s my review of the loo in this section of the train
And it’s locked with this knob here which you turn anti-clockwise.
There are baby changing facilities immediately to your right which
are nice and clean though again no babies were available for exchange at the time of my visit.
A retractable handle here next to the toilet bowl, along with a bin for toilet tissue only.
Above the sink is a large mirror and check this out - a waterfall-effect tap which you
might think is for the posh toilet only but you actually get them in standard class too. Emergency
call button at floor level and yep, everything clean and in good working order.
I returned to my standard class seat as we approached Lille - Europe - the high speed hub
whose below-ground platforms reminded me a bit of Birmingham New Street
(only with less platforms and in France). We then head north-west
towards the French Coast before diving down into the channel tunnel at Coquelles.
As we approach the tunnel, you can’t help noticing the miles and miles of security fencing
erected in an attempt to prevent anyone from gaining access to the 50 km-long tunnel
and of course the UK. And then we’re in, and for the next 20 minutes or so,
we’ll be passing under the English Channel at a current maximum line speed of 160 km/h.
There’s not much to show you in a tunnel really is there but suffice to say
we emerged safely on the other side at Folkestone. The Eurostar then utilises the 108 km long
‘High Speed 1’ line that connects the south coast with the capital city of London.
So cost of this one way ticket between Brussels and London was £49.50 which I think
is reasonable value when you consider that the journey from city centre to city centre
takes just over 2 hours in total. Try doing that in a plane for example.
Now I did book that ticket about 4 months in advance and I would really recommend that
you do do that to get the best prices. Personally, I wouldn’t purchase a Standard Premier or Business
Premier ticket as I don’t think it’s worth the extra money. Standard class is very comfortable
and will certainly suffice for the journey of just under 320 kms. The train overall was clean and the
staff I did encounter were friendly and helpful without exception. I was able to sit back, enjoy
the scenery and arrive at my destination relaxed and ready for my onward travel. Very cliched I
know but yep overall I was really happy with this trip and will definitely do it again.
Now we’re just approaching St Pancras, if you sit on the left-land side of the train you can
just make out the gothic tower of the station in the distance. Eurostar trains arrive on the
upper level platforms so, when you disembark, just take a few minutes to look up at the magnificent
arched roof above. For border purposes, we’re still deemed to be in France at this point.
You have to descend to the level below to ‘cross back into England’ so to speak.
And once you do exit the station, try and make your way to the front of the building to
admire its gothic facade - well worth a few minutes of your time because, in my opinion,
it is one of the finest railway stations in the world and certainly the most impressive
in London. I’ve put a couple of clips up at the end of the video just to show you what it’s like.