A new high-speed train link yesterday brought Paris and London closer than ever before, making the 345-kilometer journey in just over two hours.

For the first time the 18-coach Eurostar train did not have to hit the brakes until it reached its destination, thanks to the completion of Britain's first 5.8 billion-pound ($11.7 billion) high-speed route, which runs for 109 kilometers from the Channel Tunnel near the coastal city of Folkestone to central London.

"We have a new record," claimed Eurostar CEO Richard Brown as the train sped into the newly refurbished St. Pancras train station in central London, two hours, three minutes and 39 seconds after leaving Paris' Gare du Nord.