Europe gets closer with Berkeley Homes

Europe comes that bit closer to Berkeley Homes (Kent) Ltd’s Holborough development when Ebbsfleet International train station opens on the 19th November.

The new Eurostar service to Paris, Lille and Brussels will prove much faster and greener than flying from London airports, with the train service producing ten times fewer carbon dioxide emissions*. This means residents at Holborough – already a sustainable development with Super E technology at its heart - will soon be able to sip café au lait in Paris or do business in Brussels with a clear conscience, just over two hours after closing their front door.

Situated just off the A228, Holborough is the transformation of a former quarrynear Snodland into approximately 1,000 new homes, complete with landscaping, water features and wildlife habitats.

Holborough is, approximately, a 20-minute drive from the new Eurostar station. From Ebbsfleet, it will take approximately 1 hour 10 minutes to get to Lille, around 1 hour 41 minutes to get to Brussels and approximately 2 hours 5 minutes to reach Paris. Catching the train from Ebbsfleet will certainly be a much more convenient for Holborough residents, who will also benefit from a 10-minute shorter journey time to the Continent than from St Pancras.

The modern steel and glass station at Ebbsfleet offers 2,500 parking spaces within five minutes' walk of the check-in gates, and it is estimated the facilities will be used by more than one million travellers each year. In addition, the new track laid to take the Eurostar trains will also enable a fast track connection between Ebbsfleet and St Pancras – with a journey time of just 17 minutes on trains dubbed ‘the commuter bullet’. Although this domestic service will not be in operation until 2009, the prospect is proving very alluring to Holborough purchasers.

Eurostar is already the leading carrier to Paris and Brussels – 7.85 million travellers took the train last year. The train is particularly popular with business customers, with 2.23 million travellers using the service during July, August and September 2007.** The introduction of the new service from Ebbsfleet is expected to increase Eurostar’s popularity further still. Business and leisure travellers at Holborough are set to benefit from the reduced journey time and added convenience of the nearby international station.

As well as being well placed for the new rail links, Holborough also has excellent road connections. Located close to the M2 and M20, Holborough benefits from easy access to the M25, London and the South East.

Angela Plant, Marketing Manager for Berkeley Homes (Kent) Ltd comments; “A good location is absolutely vital for any development and Holborough is perfectly located to enable residents to travel freely throughout the South East. The new Ebbsfleet International station is very close to Holborough, making it the ideal choice for people who do a lot of business on the continent or for those who enjoy city breaks.”

Prices at Birchleigh, the second phase at Holborough start from £160,000 for a one-bedroom apartment. Three-bedroom houses are priced from £250,000.

For further information on Birchleigh and the Holborough development visit Holborough.co.uk.

A timetable of services from the new Ebbsfleet International station can be found at Eurostar.com.

* According to detailed independent research commissioned by Eurostar in 2006

** Eurostar figures