Eurostar e300 / TGV TMST / British Rail Class 373

The British Rail Class 373, or TGV Trans-Manche Super Train, were built by GEC-Alsthom between 1992 and 1996 for use through the newly constructed Channel Tunnel between London, Paris and Brussels. Originally, there were plans for shorter sets (North of London) to run to Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh etc, however these plans were dropped along with the Nightstar sleepers, and the shorter sets entered normal service, with three being used by Great North Eastern Railway during their Class 91 refurbishment scheme around 2004. They were then transferred to SNCF for use in Europe. Due to corrosion from the salt while travelling through the tunnel, multiple sets have been retired and replaced with newer Siemens Velaro Class 374 units, however 9 remain active with Eurostar, with some also being used by French high speed operator Thalys' budget sector, Izy. The three SNCF sets have been retired in favor of newer TGV sets. A few examples have been preserved; one at the National Railway museum in York, one part of Hornby's One:One collection at their visitor center in Margate, another at Train World,Schaerbeek and two at the campuses of the National College of High Speed Rail in Doncaster and Birmingham. - 208mph top speed - 410kN Tractive Effort - 12200kW Power - Available in 6 liveries, in multiple configurations, first appearing in 1996 I thank MrTransportGuy, Pocket, elliott. 85 & everyone else, especially my patrons for their support and inspiration.. - Enjoy. Le British Rail Class 373, ou TGV Trans-Manche Super Train, a été construit par GEC-Alsthom entre 1992 et 1996 pour être utilisé dans le nouveau tunnel sous la Manche entre Londres, Paris et Bruxelles. À l'origine, il était prévu que des rames plus courtes (au nord de Londres) circulent vers Manchester, Liverpool, Édimbourg, etc. Cependant, ces plans ont été abandonnés avec les traverses Nightstar et les rames plus courtes sont entrées en service normal, quelques-unes étant utilisées par la Great North