New high speed train will get you to Germany in four hours

PA

From 2013 a new high speed train service will allow you hop on a train at London St Pancras and be in Cologne in four hours.

After a successful test run through the Channel Tunnel to the Eurostar terminal at London St Pancras, German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) plans to start a full inter-continental service in 2013.

Using Brussels as the connecting point, high-speed services will be provided to Rotterdam/Amsterdam and also Cologne/Frankfurt.

The chairman of the DB Management Board, Dr Rutiger Grube, said, "by making full use of the opportunities afforded by the liberalisation of the European rail transport market we are able to offer our customers genuine alternatives to air travel."

Travel time from Cologne and Amsterdam to London is expected to be under four hours and from Frankfurt just over five hours.

It is currently possible to travel to Amsterdam in just over four hours on the Eurostar, but there are no services to Frankfurt or Cologne.