THE first Deutsche Bahn train to ever visit London is standing at St Pancras International today.

And it's a sign of things to come, according to DB, which says it will start running regular services to London in December 2013.

The single ICE set looks strangely short alongside the Eurostars, which is hardly surprising as it's only 200m long, and as such does not meet the current regulations for trains carrying passengers through the Channel Tunnel.

But today's arrival is ceremonial only. From the end of 2013 DB is planning three departures from St Pancras every day. The 400m trains will divide and join at Brussels, with the individual portions serving Rotterdam and Amsterdam, or Cologne and Frankfurt.

Projected journey times are 3hr to Rotterdam, 'below' 4hr to Amsterdam and Cologne, and 5hr to Frankfurt.

DB faces more hurdles before its plans become a reality. Channel Tunnel safety rules, which are currently being reviewed, will need to be changed to allow distributed traction rather than power cars at each end of the train.

Evacuation inside the tunnel will also be an issue unless it is possible for passengers to walk the entire length of a 400m train. However, DB is claiming that a test evacuation of 300 passengers in the Channel Tunnel on Sunday was successful.

There is also stern opposition in France, where both the government and Alstom are resisting the DB plans, saying that the Siemens-built ICEs would not be safe.

DB has dismissed the French argument as simply another salvo in the long-running battle between the two countries, neither of whom have welcomed the other's trains on home territory.

But for today, the ICE is standing at Platform 5 in St Pancras International as the first tangible evidence, in Britain at least, that international open access is approaching -- at High Speed.

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