Eurostar services between the UK and France and Belgium will become even more reliable on the London - Brussels route with the completion of a new £7.5 million, 435 metre viaduct outside Brussels Midi station, which will open on 10 December 2006.

The viaduct is the last and final section in the Belgian high speed line which runs from the French border, near Lille, through to Brussels. 

The viaduct carries two dedicated tracks over 22 other railway lines at the entrance to Brussels Midi and separates Eurostar and other high-speed TGV and Thalys services from the busy domestic train services.  It will mean that Eurostar services will have much faster and easier journeys into and out of the station.  The fastest journey on the London-Brussels route is currently 2h15 and this will be reduced to 2h11.

In the latest quarter (July to September 2006) Eurostar’s punctuality was 91.4%, already significantly higher than the airlines. The launch of  Eurostar services from St Pancras International on High Speed 1, Britain’s first high-speed line, on 14 November 2007 will mean that London-Brussels and London-Paris services run on dedicated high-speed lines from capital to capital.  Eurostar services will be even more punctual and reliable, with the fastest journey times between London and Brussels just 1h 51.

Richard Brown, Chief Executive of Eurostar, told TRC:  “This was a hugely challenging and complex project. The new viaduct is absolutely key in the further improvement of services between the UK and Belgium, and in the development of Brussels Midi as a European railway hub for onward connections to the Netherlands, Germany and beyond.  We congratulate  infrastructure provider, Infrabel and the SNCB Group (Belgian Railways) on the investment and the successful delivery of this project.With the launch of services from St Pancras International next year it will mean that London is seamlessly connected to the high-speed rail network which is expanding across Europe.  By 2008 journey times between London and cities such as Amsterdam and Cologne will be reduced by 20-30%.  These developments make high-speed trains an even faster, more reliable and less environmentally damaging alternative to flying,”.

In addition, services in the Brussels area are to be further improved from 10 December by three other major engineering projects. The Brussels Nord Viaduct - a 136 meter long, 1,480 tonne structure allowing trains coming out pf Brussells Nord to connect directly to the high speed line towards Leuven, Liege and the german Border, without having to cross a large number of tracks at ground level. Upgrade of Brussels-Leuven line to four tracks. Four running lines are now in use all the way between Brussels and Diegem, increasing route capacity. The two outer tracks will be used as slow lines and the two inner lines by main line TGV services with a top speed of 160km/h. The Leuven Curve. The new Leuven curve is a 1,750 metre link connecting the Hasselt-Leuven and Leuven-Brussels line, this will allow direct travel between the Hasselt-Aarschot region and Brussels, without changing at Leuven. The new line will save passengers around 9 minutes on through journeys to/from Brussels.