British Rail Class 373

what is it?

The British Rail Class 373 (known in France as the TGV TMST and branded by Eurostar as the Eurostar e300) is a French designed and Anglo-French built electric multiple unit train that is used for Eurostar international high-speed rail services from the United Kingdom to France and Belgium through the Channel Tunnel. Part of the TGV family, it was built with a smaller cross-section to fit the smaller loading gauge in Britain, was originally capable of operating on the UK third rail network, and has extensive fireproofing in case of fire in the tunnel. It is both the second longest—387 metres (1,270 ft)—and second fastest train in regular UK passenger service, operating at speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph).

who runs it

Eurostar

base stats

• speed 300 km/htop speed
• seats 758passengers
• built 38made in total

Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.

fun facts

• 🎂First built 32 years ago, in 1994.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.3× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• ⏱️At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 8 minutes.
• 📏394 m long: about 88 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🧍Seats 758: 15 full city buses (~50 seats each).
• 🧓Still in service after 32 years.

high-speed train: Built for 200–350 km/h on dedicated lines, like the TGV, ICE or Shinkansen.

spec sheet

built

1994

in service from

1994

status

in service

number built

38

kind

Electric multiple unit

traction

electric

origin

🇫🇷 France

builders

Alstom, Metro-Cammell, La Brugeoise et Nivelles

operators

Eurostar

top speed

300 km/h

power

—

formation

Three Capitals: 20 cars, North of London: 16 cars, (See Set formation)

length

394 m

capacity

758 passengers

Dutch name

Trans-Manche Super Train

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.