As a feat of railway engineering it is perhaps the epitome of everything great about Britain.  It is gloriously impractical, cost over £800 million in repairs (plus an additional £200 million for the hotel) and was actually built by the Victorians, just like the rest of our railway system. 

Whilst the Eurostar trains are fast and comfortable, the notion of international rail travel being less stressful than flying is being steadily eroded as they introduce ever more pointless "security" procedures to add to your discomfort, inconvenience and delay.  And when you finally get to the national connections you are back to the ancient, stinking diesels and queuing up waiting for the platform to be announced.  It would be far too complicated to actually schedule platforms on a regular, timetabled basis like every other country in the world, after all, its not like they are running a railway!

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