Eurostar services now run exclusively from London St Pancras, also home to rail services direct to Sheffield. Now travel to and from Europe simply involves crossing a platform from the connecting East Midlands Trains service, rather than travelling across London.
Trains running from St Pancras International travel on the country's first high-speed rail line at 186mph, meaning that from Sheffield city centre you could reach the heart of Paris in five and a half hours and and the centre of Brussels in 5 hours 20 minutes.
With no transfers or connections and fully reserved seating and through-ticketing, the convenience and comfort of the service is attractive to families and business travellers alike. The green-at-hear will also be satisfied as taking the train creates just 10% of the carbon emissions as flying does.
There's no hanging around the terminal for hours either; standard check-in is just 30 minutes while Business Premier travellers have a 10-minute check-in. The rest of Europe is easily accessible via train from Paris and Brussels, with high-speed connections already available to Amsterdam, Strasbourg and Cologne.
If you are waiting for a connection in St Pancras, the newly refurbished building offers the longest champagne bar in Europe, a range of eating houses and shopping facilities - including Hamleys, Foyles and Neal's Yard Remedies - all housed in an iconic piece of architecture. A range of luxury apartments will complete the redevelopment of one of London's most beautiful and striking buildings.