Eurostar passenger services through the Channel Tunnel began in 1994. The first public services ran on 14 November 1994, linking London Waterloo International with Paris Nord and Brussels-South. The opening followed the Channel Tunnel’s inauguration in May that year by Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand.
Eurostar was created as a cross-Channel high-speed service operated jointly by British, French and Belgian railway interests. Its Class 373 trains were specially designed for different national railway systems, including Britain’s third rail and continental overhead electrification. The service used the newly completed tunnel beneath the English Channel rather than ferries or train transporters.
A common mix-up is the distinction between the launch year and the start of the full timetable. Eurostar began with a limited “Discovery” service in November 1994; the full daily service began on 28 May 1995. The tunnel itself opened in 1994, but that date refers to the infrastructure, not the beginning of regular passenger trains.