First Eurostar passengers depart UK for Paris as border reopens

First Eurostar passengers depart UK for Paris as border reopens

First Eurostar passengers depart UK for Paris as border reopens

First Eurostar passengers depart UK for Paris as border reopens

Passengers board a Eurostar train at St Pancras International station in London on December 23, 2020, as services prepare to resume following a 48 hour closure of the French border, due to a new coronavirus strain being discovered in the UK. (AFP)

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First Eurostar passengers depart UK for Paris as border reopens

French authorities relaxed the travel restrictions on Tuesday evening, 48 hours after banning arrivals from the UK to curb the spread of a new coronavirus strain

A Eurostar spokesman said that only 60 of the 900 seats available on the first train had been taken

Updated 23 December 2020

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LONDON: Passengers supplied with negative virus tests on Wednesday boarded the first Eurostar trains from London to France since border closures, eager to spend Christmas with their families.

Shortly before the departure of the first train to Paris from St Pancras Station at 0906 GMT, the terminal remained noticeably quieter than would normally be expected two days before Christmas.

Only a few passengers gathered around the station's ticket offices for boarding, dragging their suitcases and brandishing their all-important negative test results.

"I had already taken a ticket