The operation of the Eurostar trains is a matter for Eurostar and London and Continental Railways as operator of the railway on which they run, and not for the Secretary of State. There are no current plans to increase the speed of Eurostar trains.
Section 2 of the Channel Tunnel rail link, now known as high speed 1, will open on 14 November 2007. As a result journey times to the Channel Tunnel from London will reduce by some 23 to 25 minutes.
It needs to be borne in mind that higher speeds require additional power and the right balance needs to be struck between keeping journey times short and carbon emissions down.
The speed of the trains on high speed 1 is governed by the design speed of the railway based on track geometry, and the maximum speed of the trains themselves. The maximum speed of the current Eurostar train sets is around 335 kph based on the 2003 record run on section 1. The scheduled line speed between Ebbsfleet and the Channel Tunnel is 275 kph, although trains can travel at up to 300 kph if necessary.