The deal that made it all happen www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Spare a thought for me today folks, my operating licence is coming up for renewal and as part of it I’ve got a tri-annual re-evaluation to get through. These are intense verbal examinations lasting up to 6 hours, covering every element of our operations. Coffee has been consumed!

In full thunderbird mode today, ready to spring (optimistic) in to action today as the daytime cover….a slight worry earlier with some dodgy points near Calais but otherwise the railway under the sea is running well today. Hope you’re all enjoying the brighter weather 🌦️

Been having some work done at home over the last year so my home office has been devoid of it’s railway poster wall. Glad to get it back today and spend a few minutes choosing the posters to display for the next few months. These two always entice me to travel, even 35 years later.

Taking the time on my spare shift to do an expiry date check on my first aid kid, every TM has one. We have to be ready for a lot, as we can be a long way from help. We’ve got oxygen meters, stethoscopes, blood pressure monitors, burn gels, bandages and so on. We also have defibrillators on board.

Starting the day with a visit to the neighbours. Day three for me floating around in London, very bizarre to have a cover shift followed by a couple of spare turns, we nearly always pick up a shift. Anyway plenty of admin has been done, the jobs you put off, and a few trains prepped too!

St Pancras looking pretty in pink this morning, starting off Sunday with ES9114 to Amsterdam. It’s a bit of an oddity as it doesn’t stop in Lille like most of the Low Countries trains do, makes it a bit easier for us with no intermediate stop to manage. Good morning all! 🌅 🇬🇧 🇧🇪 🇳🇱

I’m yet to find a better spot to stop for a quick morning coffee I think the youngsters would call this a “vibe”

The things you find on board ❤️ Thank you Rafaëlle, I’ll do my best, and I’ll pass it on to all you good folks too!

The calm before the storm - there are 700 people upstairs waiting to join us and we’ve just authorised boarding so this platform will look very different in a minute! See you soon if you’re with us on #ES9015 from Paris to London this morning 🌅

The sun shines on the righteous, and London King’s Cross.

Wet wet wet 🌧️ 374012 and her other half will be off to Amsterdam at 1504, I’ve just finished giving her a quick once over for the crew that will take her out. Keep your umbrellas handy today folks!

Frosty Sunday commuting ❄️ It’s Cambridgeshire-London-Paris-London-Cambridgeshire for me today, hope you’re all having a good weekend. I shall miss the cold weather.

Snow drift seen from the back cab on Eurostar 9013 - pretty impressive - lots of snow between Paris And Lille

Less than 48h left to buy an Interrail pass with 25% discount (I already have!). Buy now, activate any date in next 11 months. About Interrail and how to buy: www.seat61.com/how-to-use-a...

Belgium hits the 100% ETCS target, what an effort from the INFRABEL team. A long way off in the UK. I personally am looking forward to more and more ETCS as standardisation will make cross border operations so much harder. For now I’ll keep carrying a hi-vis with two different colours on it…..

Good morning everyone - it’s a Friday for you Monday for me week. We’re starting off with a #teaunderthesea on 9110 to Brussels. I’m on cover duties over the weekend, will check in on Paris on Monday and then finish the week with some training. Wishing you all a lovely weekend, got any plans?

December in Brussels 🌧️

That time of year where the bar starts to double as the ski storage! ⛷️ ❄️ Hope those of you with us on 9022 1131 London to Paris are having a good journey 🚂 💨

It's a tad frosty in the land of the third rail rail this morning. This is the fireworks show provided by an icy conductor rail when you are the first train of the day along the line.

Good morning from line 96N heading south out of Brussels, we’re bringing ES9125 from Amsterdam back to London today having taken over in Brussels. My apologies to those of you on board for the 10 minute delay, due a signalling problem in the Netherlands. Goede reis! 🇳🇱 🇧🇪 🇫🇷 🇬🇧

Some days at work are just special. I was honoured to work with one of my best friends on his last day at Eurostar today, we gave him a traditional welcome into St Pancras on his last train. Thank you to all the passengers of train 9031 today who took the time to wish him well, he was touched!

This is what 300 kmh on an icy evening looks like. Lots of arcing from the pantograph (current collector) as it picks up 25,000 volts to power the train.

Word of the day: “Baltic” English slang for very very cold, best said with a strong London east end accent.

"Describe yourself in five words."

Beautiful winter scenes on the Belgian/French border today. As a winter person this makes me very happy! ❄️

I’ve just got train 9110 to Brussels ready for my colleagues who will be taking it out at 0704, the 0601 to Paris has just pulled out of the station, the 0616 to Amsterdam is boarding and the 0701 to Paris is next to us. The railway under the sea is alive and well this morning.

The mostly unseen dance of early morning London well underway here, good morning all, I’m due in St P for 0500. I’m on cover duties this morning ready to step in for colleagues unavailable at late notice. Hoping you and I have a peaceful one! 🤞

Celebrating 31 years of doing what we do! The show goes on, Eurostar 9023 to London from Paris at 1108 is being prepped for you, see you shortly on board if you’re joining us. Wherever you are or whatever you’re doing I wish you a very good day!

Happy 31st Birthday eurostar! On this day in 1994, the first commercial services started. 2 trains a day each way between London and Paris/Brussels back then.

Starting my commute one stop further south today, my home station is closed, you will know why When something like this happens on your patch, and to your industry, it hits hard My thoughts are with the the LNER, GN and emergency services staff that handled the event with such bravery Heroes.

Matching the socks up to the destination 🇬🇧 🇫🇷 🇧🇪 🇳🇱

The modern railway started 200 years ago this year. When you travel on one of our trains, be it red or blue, they are descended from a technology developed from Locomotion Number 1. #Railway200 #highspeedrail

Sunset in the Somme 🌅 If I were in charge of the railways, I would always make sure that where possible, when a railway runs next to a road, that the railway has a higher speed limit. There can be no better advert to get people out of cars and on to trains, than being overtaken by one.

Good evening from St Pancras where they are once again paying me to play trains. Find a job you enjoy and you’ll never work a day in your life! Do not quote me on that one next time I have to be up at 0230 to come to work.

The highlight of a recent trip to Brussels with @eurostarjustin.bsky.social (notwithstanding his company for the day of course) “Chez Albert” in Gare du Midi gets a recommendation, conveniently located next to the Eurostar terminal.

Enjoyed the read Mr Smith, and even more glad you all enjoyed the trip! The Man in Seat 61 needs no introduction from me, I’m sure you will all enjoy the most recent adventure ⬇️

Keep me in your thoughts folks, it’s new Doc Martens break in day. A once every two years process for me. Not one I look forward to!

There’s one of our internal systems that doesn’t like it if you try and log in with a poor signal, it gives this error message, which is fine, apart from the fact that my brain reads it in Dalek every time I see it!

Hats off, and thank you to our cleaners who do an amazing job making the trains ready for the next journey. This is what they had to deal with on arrival of 9024 from London today. It was clean and ready to head back just over 1 hour later. 🧼🧹 #BehindTheScenes

After twenty eight years, four months and eighteen days in the private sector I return to public ownership tomorrow. From day one with 47848 and 86260 on January 6th 1997 to today with 450103 and 444039 I've covered hundreds of thousands of miles and worked upwards of ten thousand trains!

Good evening everyone from a beautiful LGV Nord, all is going well so far on the last train under the sea, 21:10 from Paris departed and running on time. Hope you’ve had some nice weather today wherever you are! 🌅

Rotterdam, gisteravond 👌

In a poignant reminder that the fight for freedom continues, British troops recently travelled by train from London to Estonia to take part in an exercise. www.army.mod.uk/news/stronge...

Head office on a bank holiday Monday, peaceful! General update training day today: - Ticket conditions - Compensation - Service charter - Hot weather plan To name just some of it. The amount of stuff we have to have in our heads surprises even me sometimes!

When the leaving do is for someone who has been part of a very special place to work right from the start, you know it's going to be epic. Nana's emotional last train after 30 years with eurostar. #eurostar30 #TrainLife

Ah yes, back to the more unpleasant time of year to work in London’s finest greenhouse 🥵

Our response to the Office of Rail and Road Capacity Study: As the market opens up, we are strongly pushing for growth - but it's clear the industry urgently needs investment and new solutions to support it. 🔗Full response: mediacentre.eurostar.com/mc_view?lang...

Killing a bit of time before my return working to London with a secondhand bookshop find, Cecil J Allen’s “Titled Trains of Great Britain” (5th edition, 1967) You’d rather ride “The Bristolian” than the 1000 Paddington to Bristol right? Come on Great British Railways you know you want to.

One moment you think you have a serious job, the next moment you find yourself spelling out “waffles” over the crew radio. Whisky Alpha Foxtrot Foxtrot Lima Echo Sierra anyone?