398.92m, our e320s are by no means short, but did you know that, stood on one end, one would be taller than: The Shard - 310m The Eiffel Tower- 330m and Berlin’s Fernsehtrum - 368m. All of that, capable of 320kph with 900 people on board. These machines continue to amaze me!

The 1711 Paris to London on my right, the 1811 to my left. I’m waiting for a train to arrive that I’ll take as the 1841, which will be followed by the 1912, 2011 and 2111. 5000 seats linking Paris and London between now and the end of another day on the railway under the sea.

I am sorry to report that my socks usually reserved for Amsterdam services have been pressed into use for a Paris train today. This is due to an operational incident at Wardrobe. I apologise for the inconvenience caused to your day.

I'm sorry what? As part of its 1987 rebrand British Rail's sectorised freight business Railfreight had its own branded After Eight mints and called them AFTER FREIGHT!?

The 6th of June and we are preparing for another cross channel trip, while thinking of those who made the same journey in 1944, not knowing if they would come back. They did it for the world, and gave me the joy of linking the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, in peace.

Do you ever have a feeling you’re being watched? 👓

How lucky am I to have such views from my office - the village of Watten seen here, dominated by the church of Notre Dame du Mont, but my favourite part is the small windmill on the top of the hill. It’s on my (growing) list of places I see from the train that I need to visit.

A peaceful moment at Kings Cross this morning before my trip to Paris and back started. I’ve safely dropped off 900 people and there are 600 or so now waiting for me to take them back to the island. As they say here, allez hop! 🇬🇧 🇫🇷

Being tempted by “The Northern Lights” - the 1003 London to Aberdeen via Edinburgh. I love a named train, more please! Theoretically possible to make this one from the 0809 from Paris, what a journey that would be.

Not where I should have been this morning, it was another bad day on the railway under the sea so yours truly ended up working an evening train to Paris. It’s been quite a week, I’ve been caught up in: - One broken down e* - One broken down Javelin - One abandoned bag station evacuation at Lille

Tricky to drag myself away from the garden this morning but work calls. I’ve got a “cover” shift this afternoon, on standby to work a train if needed, if not helping out my colleagues with their preparations and boardings. Hoping for a calm day today, it’s been a delay heavy week so far! ☀️ 🌸

Busy busy today, a long commute in following a fatality on my route and then some issues in the channel tunnel causing me a lot of work when I got here. Far too hot to be running round preparing trains, but that is the deal when you’re cover! Good evening everyone!

Day five of five for the week and the 0320 alarm calls are starting to build up, however, the sun is shining across Northern Europe today and there are 690 people wanting to get to Lille and Brussels so e300 numbers 007 and 008 and myself will happily oblige. Happy Friday everyone! ☀️ 🇪🇺 🇬🇧

- Go to Paris - Admire station - Buy good jam (for a lot less than in the UK) - Go back to London International life for you!

Flying into Thursday, full speed ahead for us on 9004 this morning. School groups and guided holiday groups galore, plenty of smiles despite the early start and the coffee machine is earning its money. Wishing you all a very good day, anyone got any adventures planned?

Where would you go from Brussels today? I’d be on that TGV to Strasbourg to enjoy the old city then head into the Black Forest

Brussels to the left of me, Paris to my right and a Qantas arrival from Australia overhead. Let’s get people moving this Wednesday morning, I’ve got the Brussels duty today so, goede morgen! 🇧🇪

I came in early today to say goodbye to our dear colleague and friend Frank who is taking his retirement, there is a joy to carrying on the work that he has done since 1994, I’ve got a Paris return trip to look after. The show must go on, the next generation is here to keep the wheels turning.

Reflections of St Pancras

Urban London wildlife, spotted during a nice coffee break by the Regent’s Canal

Good morning from a grey and rainy Paris, we’re getting our e320 ready for its first voyage of the day on ES9015. Paris 0909, London 1030! 🚂

Off we go again to Paris, it’s been very Paris heavy for me these last few weeks. Things going much better today, we were into the tunnel a few minutes early. I hope those of you lucky enough to be having the bank holiday weekend off are enjoying yourselves!

Oh dear, it’s all gone a bit wrong on the railway under the sea today. A track issue in Eurotunnel sees one of the two tunnels out of service for about a third of the total length, this is shown on the map below, interval 2 is closed, so we’ll need to use the UK crossover ⬇️

Sunshine and storms here in Paris today, they are very impressive seen from the plains north of the city. You can feel them in the air. Hoping we get some in the UK this week, the garden needs it already. It concerns me to see the countryside struggling for water so early in the year.

On your marks….. Ashford’s signal 005 will be the starting gun for us today on this very sunny Friday, I’m off to Paris with the 1531. Note the dual speed signage in mph and kph, kph signage is only present on HS1 and one other route in the UK, I imagine a few of you will know where!

Working the newspaper train….or as close as it gets these days. We’re loaded up with French language newspapers and magazines for the business lounge in London on the first departure from Paris. London arrival at 0830……coach 8 and 9 for your coffees! Bonne route! ☕️ ☀️

It’s an excellent job mine for people who are fans of pushing different coloured buttons

You join me once again under the sea 🌊 Another 0330 alarm, but a result for me today as a late arriving colleague in Paris has resulted in me working a train back to London much earlier than planned. It’s lovely when helping out also helps you. I get back early, 800 people don’t get delayed ✅

A tea under the sea to start my week, much needed after an 0330 alarm this morning. Hope all of you on #ES9004 from London to Paris today are having a good journey. Wishing you all a very pleasant Thursday from somewhere under la Manche. 😴🫖

A lift back to London courtesy of a friend I haven’t seen in a long while….if you know you know!

Happy Sunday everyone from the Hauts de France region where the sun is shining and many farmers can be seen making the most of the weather as we zip past. Fleeting glimpses of a past life for me, I think I prefer watching others doing the busy spring work in the fields to doing it myself….

A sunny day in London’s best office ☀️

A beautiful evening for leaving the traffic on the A1 in our dust. Based on the live grid information for France, our 900 seat, 186mph train from Paris to London is currently being powered along by 98% zero carbon energy. ⚡️

A return trip to Paris on the 1431 and the 2009 mark the end to my working week, looking forward to spending some time with the extended family this weekend. Here’s a view of the first two tulips blooming in the garden this year to celebrate. Hope you’re all having a good Friday!

Oups….looks like I’m here a bit early to do the 21:09

Found this little guy in the road when I was nearly home yesterday lunchtime, they shouldn’t be out in the day so something was obviously up. Scooped him up and took him straightaway to our local hedgehog rescue who are now looking after him! 🦔

A lovely day for passing over the Medway, got a bit of a Windows XP vibe to it today. Eurostar 9015 back to London is my last of the week, I shall be back for more on Monday!

Very pleased to say I bumped into Jean-Sebastian again today and that he has, on another visit to London, been able to correctly source pickle, not piccalilli, as he did the first time. I hope this puts you all at ease, sorry for the stress.

First day of the year I’ve had to mention the blinds in my announcement as the sun might be too bright! ☀️ Have a good day everyone, sending positivity from #ES9015 from Paris to London

Quiz time: what purpose do you think this, rather beautifully antiquated, computer was responsible for on our e300/TMST fleet? It has since been superseded by a more modern replacement. I’ll give points to a) the correct answer and b) the mostly entertainingly incorrect answer

A spin of the wheel of cover shift fortune and my late cover has become a trip to Brussels replacing a colleague who has phoned sick. It’s an Amsterdam service on the way out,+ a Brussels starter for the return. Not ideal when my commute today both ways has been by car due to engineering works!

It’s a funny job this one sometimes, you go to prep a train for a Parisian crew, thinking it’s going to be a simple one and you end up…trying to explain the difference between pickle, piccalilli and pickles to one of the crew. Jean Sebastian has not bought the right thing on his break!

Good morning everyone from the Somme, no filter needed for today’s view from Eurostar 9007, the first train of the day from Paris to London. I love seeing these turbines, they look majestic in the soft sun and mist of this morning. Hope your week starts well, mine ends when we get to London.

Let there be…..darkness. Enjoy the sound of our Eurostar e300 (aka Class 373) slipping into the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone, as she has done daily for thirty odd years. What we consider mundane and normal now, entering the Channel Tunnel, was once a revolution that changed Europe.

“Finsbury Park” It’s another Great British Grey Day, I’m off to Paris in the hope of seeing some sky. See you on #ES9036 at 1531 if you’ve got the same plan

How lovely to get a drawing from a young passenger on our train out to Brussels this evening, put a lovely smile on my face on what has been a bit of a stressful day behind the scenes Dank je wel Joel ❤️

Working out if I can manage a rendition of “Flower of Scotland” on my whistle during our stop in Lille this afternoon……this part Scotsman is rather happy! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏉 🇫🇷 #rugby

"The argument for electrifying our railways will become clearer in time." British Rail, 1979.

Un => #nezcassé => #BB22200 (à cause du positionnement du panto) à => #BordeauxSaintJean prêt pour un départ direction Marseille en 08-24. 📷François Reiniche, source : compte de l'auteur sur fr.linkedin.com

Some interesting railway news seen on LinkedIn, DB will operate one return trip from Cologne all the way to Ostend this summer, extending the Brussels service. An extension to Antwerp also on the cards, very interesting!