Smooth Ride Replaces Old Hop, Skip And Jump The English Channel Tunnel Allows One Continuous Train Trip To Connect Paris And London

A year ago this month, the Chunnel - the English Channel tunnel between France and England - was opened. On a visit to Europe this summer, it seemed time to travel through it.

Friends who had made the journey from Paris to London, via Calais and Folkstone (31 miles underwater, 269 miles on the surface), touted it. No more need for seasickness pills or patches on the notoriously rough Channel crossing. No more tiresome, costly bus trips to and from airports in Paris and London.

Personally, I like ferries. I am not inclined to get seasick, and since - on my first trip to Europe many decades ago - I saw the white cliffs of Dover from a ferry deck, I feel rather nostalgic about the ferry.

But on this trip, the Chunnel seemed the right way to go - the “in” thing to do. In addition, time was short. The fastest Eurostar train trip, if all works well, takes three hours and one minute; about an hour faster than an airline flight, when you factor in the time getting to and from the airports.

If I traveled through the Chunnel by Eurostar, I could have most of the morning in Paris. So I lolled about over croissants and coffee at the Hotel Le Colbert near Notre Dame. Then I strolled on the Boulevard St. Germain; watched florists setting out bouquets of roses and shopkeepers washing down their sidewalks. At an outdoor market I admired gleaming eggplants and shiny tomatoes and green and white fennel arranged like a Dutch still life. I peered in bookshop windows on side streets and had a last Parisian hairdo.

After that, I took the Metro to the Gare du Nord train station, walked upstairs to reclaim luggage I had left there earlier, and took the escalator to the Eurostar departure area.

The 18-car Eurostar trains, a joint venture of the French and Belgian national railroads and British Railways, carry 796 passengers, and there was already a considerable line waiting to pass through security. Waiting-area space seemed crowded and there was assorted mumbling about French inefficiency and the train’s not being “worth the hassle.” (French National Railroads admits that there are some inadequacies at the station but says it prefers putting its money into quality trains and tracks at the moment.) There are now nine round-trips daily between Paris and London, and more trains are on order, with hopes that, by the spring of next year, there will be one passenger train an hour.

Eurostar hostesses in pert uniforms passed out schedules, examined tickets and tried to direct passengers through security. X-ray luggage examination was on a selective basis. Neither my suitcase nor hand luggage was checked. There was no calling for identity documents. The British, most of whom have never been overwhelmingly happy about the Channel Tunnel, have called its security precautions too lax.

There was crowding again on the escalator to the train tracks, with attendants urging passengers with little luggage to use the stairs instead. For those encumbered with sizable amounts of luggage, that was a problem; for others a minor annoyance.

On the platform, gold-jacketed attendants stood beside the sleek white, black and gold train. Passengers, however, had to carry their own bags to the baggage car. By the time I reached it with mine, it was full, so the attendant in my car took charge of stowing it in the rack over my head.

The first-class car in which I was traveling had a row of single seats on one side; double on the other. A tasteful carpet in red and two shades of gray was between them. The seats themselves had gray upholstery. The second-class cars’ decor was in gray and yellow. All seats in both classes have tables - either in permanent position or fold-down airline style.

My seat was opposite a Connecticut couple who couldn’t get over the difference between Eurostar and Amtrak. As we hurtled through green French countryside at 186 mph, flying past canals and red-roofed white houses, they expressed amazement at the smoothness and quietness of the ride.

In first class, luncheon - including champagne and wine - was served at each seat. The entree choices of grilled fresh tuna or roast lamb were preceded by a vegetable terrine and concluded with a mango and kiwi Bavarian cream. In second class, in a stylish modern cafeteria with metal tables to stand at, but no seating, coffee, drinks, sandwiches and snacks were offered.

We reached the 105- to 110-foot-deep Chunnel at 1:10 p.m. and 32 miles and 30 minutes later (the schedule said we should have been under water only 19 minutes) we emerged into the sunlight of Britain. It was just like a subway ride from uptown to downtown New York - except smoother and with no stops.

In England, daisies nodded in the grass and cows grazed tranquilly. As it turned out, we saw a lot of those.

The train stopped, due to “a point failure” on the tracks, the loudspeaker announcement said, and added that our London arrival time had been revised from 2:13 to 3:30 p.m. In compensation, the train manager said, each passenger would be offered a one-way Euro-star ticket in either direction gratis.

About 2, the train got under way again. After awhile, we began to pass English towns and villages, where red brick replaced the white houses with red tile roofs of France.

The distance from Folkstone to London is only 65 miles, as compared with the 204 miles we had traveled from Paris to Calais, but our shorter journey in England turned out to take considerably longer. We were on the tracks in England an hour and a half for those 65 miles versus the hour and two minutes it had taken us to cover the 204 miles to the tunnel in France.

In France, one track has been set aside for high-speed TGV and Eurostar trains alone, and they go 200 miles an hour, while in England, Eurostar must share the old-fashioned tracks with freight and commuter trains. As a result, the train speed in England is limited to 60 to 90 mph. When Britain (in about the year 2005, it is estimated) has a track for high-speed trains alone, it will reduce the Paris-London Eurostar traveling time by 40 minutes, linking the two cities in 2-1/2 hours.

With our delay, my Eurostar journey took four hours and 18 minutes, so I was not better off than I would have been traveling by plane. But, in general, on the Paris-London Euro-star run, delays are infrequent. Since Eurostar began service last November, 75 to 80 percent of the trains have been within two minutes of their schedule.

And certainly my trip was more convenient than air. I was on the train in downtown Paris; off the train at Waterloo Station, a 10-minute taxi ride from the heart of London.

Waterloo has a whole new well-equipped section of the station devoted to Eurostar reception, and once we were through Customs there was a bilingual tourist and exchange office to assist visitors. I was spending the night in Greenwich and leaving the next day for Glasgow. Upstairs in the station, it was easy to buy tickets and reserve space for both trips.

Eurostar has problems still to be worked out, but I would take it again any day that I was in a hurry on a French-English trip. Other travelers seem to agree; occupancy has been around 65 to 75 percent.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: If you go Crossing the Chunnel A one-way Eurostar second-class fare is $123; first class, $154. Holders of such tickets as Eurailpass, France Railpass or BritFrance Railpass can make the journey at reduced prices of $83 in second class; $118 in first. Eurostar information and reservations may be made by calling (800) 387-6782. The one-way fare on Le Shuttle (which carries cars and their passengers) is $172 to $247, depending on the time of day and year. Information may be obtained from Thomas Ferran Inc., (800) 444-1545. Passengers remain in their cars during the crossing, but restrooms are available. Alternatives The one-way second class rail-ferry fare from Paris to London is $143; first class $188. With the high-speed Hovercraft, the price is $11 more. Details from Britrail, (800) 551-1977, or from Rail Europe, (800) 438-7245. The car ferry price from Calais to Dover, depending on the time of day and the season, is from $96 to $244 one way, including the driver. Further information is available from P & O European Ferries, (201) 768-1187; or from Britrail, (800) 551-1977. The crossing time is one hour and 15 minutes. By air, the Paris-London one-way fare is typically $205 to $257.