Eurostar: which car for quick exit in London (& getting a cab)?

[Turtles06]

Everyone on this board has been so helpful in providing various tips re booking the Eurostar, thanks! I have one additional question: when arriving at St. Pancras from Paris, which cars on the Eurostar are closest to the exit? I've read that Car 1 is the "London end" of the train, but is that closest to the exit at St. Pancras?

 

We'll be arriving from Paris on a Monday morning in October (probably at 9am), and will have an hour to get over to Waterloo station by cab to catch a train to Southampton. I'd like to get out of St. Pancras and into a cab as quickly as possible, so besides knowing the best car to be in on the Eurostar, if anyone can give me directions on which way to go in St. Pancras (once we've off the train) to find the taxi queue, I'd appreciate that as well.

 

Thanks for any help!

[insanemagnet]

I have one additional question: when arriving at St. Pancras from Paris, which cars on the Eurostar are closest to the exit? I've read that Car 1 is the "London end" of the train, but is that closest to the exit at St. Pancras?

 

Car 1 is certainly at the 'London' end - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/30006269/trainseatplans/Eurostar_seat_plan_UK.pdf as advised by The Man in Seat 61 - http://www.seat61.com/London-to-Paris-by-train.htm.

 

The site claims that Car 1 is nearest the exit - http://www.parisperfect.com/eurostar-train-from-paris-to-london.php

 

I'd like to get out of St. Pancras and into a cab as quickly as possible, so besides knowing the best car to be in on the Eurostar, if anyone can give me directions on which way to go in St. Pancras (once we've off the train) to find the taxi queue, I'd appreciate that as well.

 

You will arrive here - https://maps.google.com/maps?q=St+Pancras+International+(Stop+S)&ll=51.504896,-0.084457&spn=0.37141,0.730591&cbll=51.530459,-0.125914&layer=c&panoid=brtL9i3D5XTQBqHrPdckwA&cbp=12,16,,0,0&cid=12322912931340788605&t=m&z=11

 

Turn right, walk a short distance and turn right at the next junction down here - https://maps.google.com/maps?q=St+Pancras+International+(Stop+S)&ll=51.53083,-0.126165&spn=0.371198,0.730591&cbll=51.53083,-0.126165&layer=c&panoid=g8whMvX3STRtaK3nvIc-fQ&cbp=12,59.73,,0,4.99&cid=12322912931340788605&t=m&z=11

 

Walk outside and cross the road to the taxi rank on the other side - remembering the cars are now coming from your right, as they are driving on the correct side of the road - https://maps.google.com/maps?q=St+Pancras+International+(Stop+S)&ll=51.531053,-0.125023&spn=0.002623,0.011415&cbll=51.530841,-0.124833&layer=c&panoid=2S1CanOPtXDRL2IqBd7Vqw&cbp=12,101.14,,0,-8.63&cid=12322912931340788605&t=m&z=17

 

Here is a map - http://stpancras.com/media/2178/stpancras_map_20150223.pdf Arrivals is between 46 and 47, and you exit by 39.

[Bob++]

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/SME/html/NRE_STP/plan.html?rtnloc=STP

 

The taxi rank is on Midland Road and you have to walk on past the lead engine to find the clearly signposted exit. No doubt many of your fellow passengers will be on the same mission, but the taxi drivers are fully aware of arrival times and respond accordingly.

 

These trains do not turn round as there is a driver position at both ends. The nearest place for the exit is at the front. You may find that there is stiff competition for seats there and I doubt that you would lose more than a couple of minutes going for seats further back; bearing in mind that you will be struggling with luggage.

[Pet Nit Noy]

We'll be arriving from Paris on a Monday morning in October (probably at 9am), and will have an hour to get over to Waterloo station by cab to catch a train to Southampton. I'd like to get out of St. Pancras and into a cab as quickly as possible, so besides knowing the best car to be in on the Eurostar, if anyone can give me directions on which way to go in St. Pancras (once we've off the train) to find the taxi queue, I'd appreciate that as well.

 

Like you, we took the Eurostar from Paris to London when we visited Europe in summer 2014. We purchased our seats online. There are three levels of seats: Standard, Standard Premier, and Business Premier.

 

We didn't have any time issues when we make our online reservation, so we took whatever car and seat numbers the reservation site spit out. The web site clearly states that you'll have some control over your seat choices when you complete your booking. However, seating in European trains tends to be the same within a whole car. I've occasionally seen a train car marked as both 1st and 2nd class, but generally, every seat in the same car is the same class.

 

Perhaps someone on this board knows the booking level of Car 1. If you choose a standard seat but discover the first car offering standard accommodations is farther back in the train you won't accomplish your goal. I'd guess that the higher booking categories get the cars closer to the ends of the train, helping those occupants accomplish exactly what you're trying to accomplish -- a quick and easy exit. (Incidentally, at St. Pancras, there were lots and lots of taxis waiting but inevitably, loading passengers with luggage takes time in spite of lots of availability.)

 

Picking a random date in early June, I learned that the three earliest trains from Paris to London are at 7:10, 7:40, and 8:40. Are you already planning on taking one of those early trains? If not, perhaps consider giving yourself some more margin of error and take book an earlier train.

Edited April 12, 2015 by Pet Nit Noy

[Scriv]

We once had a very tight connection to get and were sitting in the rear carriage. We were advised to make our way down the train right towards the front a bit of time before we got into London so that we were standing in the right place for a speedy exit.

 

That worked for us as we only had hand luggage, but with your cases it could be a very different matter.

[turnip eater]

Remember that Paris is an hour ahead of London when you are making your booking:)

[Bob++]

The taxi across London should take less than 30 minutes. The 09:10 train from Paris arrives at 11:39 (you lose an hour as you travel East) so getting to Waterloo by around 12:30 to 13:00 should be no do-able. You could aim for the 13:05 to SOU or the 13:35 (You should avoid the trains that require a change at Basingstoke).

 

This gets you to SOU at 14:22 or 14:49. Either of which are in time to meet your ship.

 

If it was me, I would think that this offers, as JB puts it, very little wiggle room. I too would advise an earlier train. I see one at 08:10 which would give you more breathing space.

 

My times were based on a Saturday in June.

Edited April 12, 2015 by Bob++

[Scriv]

Bob++, I think Turtles is arriving in London at about 9am?

Edited April 12, 2015 by Scriv

[LondonTowner]

If you are sitting in one of the first carriages you should be OK. However, there are always loads of taxis on the rank outside St Pancras, both day and night, so I doubt if you will have any problem getting a taxi.

[Pet Nit Noy]

Picking a random date in early June, I learned that the three earliest trains from Paris to London are at 7:10, 7:40, and 8:40. Are you already planning on taking one of those early trains? If not, perhaps consider giving yourself some more margin of error and take book an earlier train.

 

After reading some of the other posts on this thread, I went back and re-did my Eurostar search using Monday, October 5. (The web site isn't loaded for any other Mondays in October at the moment.) In October, the departure times will have shifted three minutes later throughout the day: 7:13, 7:43, and 8:43.

 

Since you're estimating you'll arrive in London at 9:00, the Eurostar schedule suggests you're looking at the 7:43 Paris departure.

 

The Southwest Train (SWT) site, the train you'll be taking down to Southampton, doesn't load its timetable as far out as the Eurostar timetable. Right now, SWT is only showing dates 13 weeks in the future. Still, by picking a Monday in June, I was able to pull up trains from Waterloo to Southampton Central at 11:05, 11:20, and 11:35.

 

Is there a reason why you want be on such an early train to Southampton when it will put you under pressure to make the connection? With the Southampton train ride lasting approximately 1 hour 15 minutes, you really can take the stress out of the London transfer and still arrive at the ship with plenty of time.

Edited April 12, 2015 by Pet Nit Noy

[Bob++]

I really must read post more carefully. Not only did I think a 9am departure, but on a Saturday as well.:o

[Cotswold Eagle]

 

Perhaps someone on this board knows the booking level of Car 1. If you choose a standard seat but discover the first car offering standard accommodations is farther back in the train you won't accomplish your goal. I'd guess that the higher booking categories get the cars closer to the ends of the train, helping those occupants accomplish exactly what you're trying to accomplish -- a quick and easy exit. (Incidentally, at St. Pancras, there were lots and lots of taxis waiting but inevitably, loading passengers with luggage takes time in spite of lots of availability.)

 

This question is answered by the train plan linked to above. Coach 1 is Standard, and has slightly fewer seats and more full tables than the other Standard coaches in the front half. The Standard Premier/Business Premier coaches are in the middle of Eurostar trains.

[Turtles06]

Hi everyone, thanks so much for all the advice and info.

 

One thing I should have said: we are NOT traveling on the day our ship leaves from Southampton (I'd never intentionally put us under that kind of pressure), but the day before. If somehow we miss the train to SOU from Waterloo, we'll get the next one. (But we would like to have the afternoon in Southampton if we can, hence the travel times we are looking at.)

 

I do know that we can't book all the way through from Paris to SOU when the Eurostar bookings open, and that I can contact the UK Eurostar folks later when the London/SOU bookings open and add that to our reservation.

 

So with a 9am arrival at St. Pancras on a Monday, should we just take the pressure off trying to make a 10:05am train to SOU and just aim for the 11:05am?

[Pet Nit Noy]

This question is answered by the train plan linked to above. Coach 1 is Standard, and has slightly fewer seats and more full tables than the other Standard coaches in the front half. The Standard Premier/Business Premier coaches are in the middle of Eurostar trains.

 

Upthread, I didn't find the link you referred to, but here's one that I did find:

 

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=train+plan+eurostar&view=detailv2&&qpvt=train+plan+eurostar&id=86B61F220D737A205BA7EF318DBD5AF3D2182890&selectedIndex=0&ccid=Nf%2bfWL1L&simid=608017677139182630&thid=HN.608017677139182630&ajaxhist=0

 

The image is somewhat fuzzy, but I was still able to make out labels like "London" with an arrow.

 

Putting higher price seating in the middle of the train certainly contradicts the model of seating on airplanes. The seats near the front are desirable both for their extra room and the shorter time to exit the plane. Admittedly, the doors on every train car open up simultaneously, but the walk is longer from the middle cars. Interesting. Is the ride smoother in the middle of the train? I'm curious why the higher price seats are in the middle. (I don't take the train enough in the US to have any insight on where the higher price cars are placed.)

Edited April 12, 2015 by Pet Nit Noy

[Globaliser]

The 09:10 train from Paris arrives at 11:39 (you lose an hour as you travel East) ...

I think this is the wrong way round.

 

Paris is an hour ahead of London (GMT+2 in summer time, compared to London's GMT+1). So you appear to gain an hour; in other words, the 2½ hour journey appears to take only 1½ hours.

 

The train that departs Paris at 0910 therefore arrives in London at 1039.

 

Although 9 am appears to be when the OP wants to arrive in London, rather than depart Paris, the same principle obviously applies.

[Pet Nit Noy]

Upthread, I didn't find the link you referred to, but here's one that I did find...

 

??? Somehow, I've linked the plan for the Paris to Brussels train, when I was definitely looking at the Paris to London train.

[Globaliser]

Upthread, I didn't find the link you referred to, but here's one that I did find:

 

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=train+plan+eurostar&view=detailv2&&qpvt=train+plan+eurostar&id=86B61F220D737A205BA7EF318DBD5AF3D2182890&selectedIndex=0&ccid=Nf%2bfWL1L&simid=608017677139182630&thid=HN.608017677139182630&ajaxhist=0

 

The image is somewhat fuzzy, but I was still able to make out labels like "London" with an arrow.

The links were in this post: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46237656&postcount=2

 

The link to the seat map can also be found on this page: http://www.seat61.com/London-to-Paris-by-train.htm#Choosing_your_seat_on_Eurostar - a direct link to the seat plan is here: dl.dropbox.com/u/30006269/trainseatplans/Eurostar_seat_plan_UK.pdf.

Putting higher price seating in the middle of the train certainly contradicts the model of seating on airplanes. The seats near the front are desirable both for their extra room and the shorter time to exit the plane. Admittedly, the doors on every train car open up simultaneously, but the walk is longer from the middle cars. Interesting. Is the ride smoother in the middle of the train? I'm curious why the higher price seats are in the middle. (I don't take the train enough in the US to have any insight on where the higher price cars are placed.)

I don't use Eurostar a great deal, but my impression is that there's a shorter walk to your seat on boarding because of the way that the terminals are laid out.

 

In addition, the premier seats have to be separated from standard seats by catering carriages, so that standard passengers are not walking through premier seats to get to the catering. There are therefore only a couple of obviously possible alternative layouts. One is to separate the premier seating into two smaller sections at the ends of the train, and the other is to have all the premier seating at one end. Either layout would put some premier passengers in the position of having to walk from the very end of the train at the wrong end on arrival. The first might also complicate premier catering because it would have to be delivered from two discrete locations; the current layout may make things a bit easier.

 

You do see the other approaches adopted on other (non-Eurostar) trains, so I expect that there are various things to be weighed in the balance when designing any particular train configuration.

[Globaliser]

We'll be arriving from Paris on a Monday morning in October (probably at 9am), and will have an hour to get over to Waterloo station by cab to catch a train to Southampton.

I do know that we can't book all the way through from Paris to SOU when the Eurostar bookings open, and that I can contact the UK Eurostar folks later when the London/SOU bookings open and add that to our reservation.

The main question that I have is whether your through ticket will constrain you to taking a specific Waterloo-Southampton train.

 

The normal tickets sold for Waterloo-Southampton are valid on any train. The main exception that I know of is if you buy a cheap "megatrain" ticket, through that company's dedicated website.

 

Otherwise, Waterloo-Southampton is basically a commuter train. Other than the broadest peak/off-peak restrictions, a ticket allows you to take any train. If the same applies to the through ticket that you're thinking of buying, then the bottom line is that you don't need to concern yourself about any of this. Just get to Waterloo in your own sweet time and get on the next fast train. The average wait time for the next fast train is only 15 minutes.

[Scriv]

Turftles06, I would take the pressure off every time. :)There is no point travelling under pressure if not necessary otherwise you spend your whole journey worrying.Relax and enjoy the train trip and your holiday.

Edited April 12, 2015 by Scriv

[ducklite]

Hi everyone, thanks so much for all the advice and info.

 

One thing I should have said: we are NOT traveling on the day our ship leaves from Southampton (I'd never intentionally put us under that kind of pressure), but the day before. If somehow we miss the train to SOU from Waterloo, we'll get the next one. (But we would like to have the afternoon in Southampton if we can, hence the travel times we are looking at.)

 

I do know that we can't book all the way through from Paris to SOU when the Eurostar bookings open, and that I can contact the UK Eurostar folks later when the London/SOU bookings open and add that to our reservation.

 

So with a 9am arrival at St. Pancras on a Monday, should we just take the pressure off trying to make a 10:05am train to SOU and just aim for the 11:05am?

 

I would. There is track work going on which we were notified of AFTER booking our Eurostar train that delayed us by 10-15 minutes in both directions.

 

Personally I would book seats with the power for phones and tablets and such so you can arrived fully charged.

 

You also might want to consider the MUCH cheaper Uber service. We used that a few times in London after a very frustrating and disappointing experience with a London black cab and were very happy with our Uber drivers. Most seem to have Prius' which have a lot of cargo space for luggage. (My husband drives one at home) With Uber you don't need to have local currency as it bills directly to your credit card. Black cabs are supposed to take credit cards, but the reality is that many won't.

[insanemagnet]

You also might want to consider the MUCH cheaper Uber service. We used that a few times in London after a very frustrating and disappointing experience with a London black cab and were very happy with our Uber drivers. Most seem to have Prius' which have a lot of cargo space for luggage. (My husband drives one at home) With Uber you don't need to have local currency as it bills directly to your credit card.

 

Whilst as a happy and frequent customer of Uber in London, using one to get from St Pancras at 9am on a weekday morning, when you are in a hurry to get to Waterloo is not something I would recommend.

 

Black cabs are supposed to take credit cards, but the reality is that many won't.

 

Hmm, I wonder why a cab driver would prefer to take cash rather than a traceable credit card payment. That is such a puzzle.

Edited April 13, 2015 by insanemagnet

[Globaliser]

Black cabs are supposed to take credit cards, but the reality is that many won't.

There's no obligation on a black cab to take credit cards.

[ducklite]

There's no obligation on a black cab to take credit cards.

 

 

When they display the Visa/MC logo their should be the obligation. Otherwise they should remove the decals.

[Turtles06]

Personally I would book seats with the power for phones and tablets and such so you can arrived fully charged.

 

 

Based on people's experiences -- do the cars with power for electronics have more folks chattering away on their cell phones?

[turnip eater]

Based on people's experiences -- do the cars with power for electronics have more folks chattering away on their cell phones?

 

Are you able to use phones when you are under the channel? Otherwise, when you are above ground,

Unless you sit in the 'quiet' zones,where phones are supposedly banned, it's a national pastime. :D:eek:

Edited April 14, 2015 by turnip eater