Eurostar hopes to reach speeds of 204mph in tests this week

A Eurostar train could this week become the first in the UK to reach a speed of 200 mph.

The trains are being tested on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) in Kent and have so far reached 125 mph.

Eurostar say the trains will be going "faster and faster" as they test them ahead of the line opening in September.

Trains will travel at a top speed of 186 mph (300 km/h) when the line opens but Eurostar want to test them at speeds of 204 mph this week.

'Cranking up the speed'

The trains have been tested on a stretch of track from Fawkham Junction in north Kent to Folkestone on the county's south coast.

A Eurostar spokesman said: "We are cranking up the speed and have reached 125 mph and will be going faster and faster."

The stretch will form part of the 46-mile section of the CTRL which will be the first stretch to open this autumn, at a cost of �1.9 bn.

It will mean Eurostar services between London and Paris and Brussels travelling on specially-built tracks in the UK for the first time, rather than using existing lines on which their speeds are limited.

Journey times from Waterloo to Paris will come down from three hours to two hours and 25 minutes, while London-Brussels services will take two hours and 20 minutes, instead of the current two hours and 40 minutes.

The second 24-mile section of the CTRL, from north Kent to King's Cross in London, is due to be finished by the end of 2006 and would bring the journey times down to two hours to Brussels and two hours 20 minutes to Paris.

The fastest passenger train running in the UK has previously been the Inter City 225 - which takes its name from its top speed of 225 km/h (approximately 140 mph).