High Speed 1 (HS1), known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) during construction, is a 108 km (67 mile) high-speed railway line running from London through Kent to the British end of the Channel Tunnel.
The second and final section of the line, travelling across the River Thames and into London St Pancras, opened on 14 November 2007. Built at a cost of £5.2bn, the new link has cut pre-2003 Eurostar journey times by 40 minutes. It is now possible to travel from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord in 2 hours 15 minutes and to Brussels South in 1 hour 51 minutes.
On 14 November 2006, London and Continental Railways adopted the brand name High Speed 1 for the completed railway. Official legislation, documentation and line-side signage has continued to refer to "CTRL".
