 A journey from Birmingham to Paris will take four hours and 50 minutes |
Eurostar is to begin selling through fares from 68 UK towns and cities to Paris and other European destinations. It has struck deals with East Midlands Trains (formerly Midland Mainline), First Capital Connect, GNER and Virgin trains to offer the tickets.
They will go on sale from 14 November, when Eurostar begins its cross-Channel services from London St Pancras.
But airlines operating from regional airports said they did not fear the competition from the service.
Fares will be available to Paris, Brussels, Lille, Disneyland Paris and stations across France and Belgium.
'London elite'
"Eurostar's move to St Pancras International and the introduction of through fares will open up rail travel to the continent for millions of people living to the north of London," said Eurostar's chief executive, Richard Brown.
 | Fastest journey times Sheffield - Paris 5h25 Manchester - Brussels 5h20 Cambridge - Paris 4h00 Birmingham - Paris 4h50 Luton - Brussels 3h20 Source: Eurostar |
Eurostar said journey times would match or beat flights and fares would be available up to 90 days in advance, though airlines said they were not worried.
"Eurostar caters for a central London elite, I don't seriously think they will be able to compete with our flight times from elsewhere in the country," said Toby Nichol, a spokesman for Easyjet.
Standard class, return leisure fares to Paris, Brussels and Disneyland Resort Paris will start from between �67 and �92, for travel from major stations across Britain such as Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Sheffield.
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