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Eurostar has set a new Paris to London rail journey record after the maiden journey on its new high-speed line in Britain.

The train, carrying members of the media, travelled between the French and UK capitals in two hours and three minutes after reaching speeds of 200mph.

A statement confirmed that the Eurostar service had left Paris' Gare du Nord at 10:44 local time (09:44 BST) and arrived at St Pancras International Station at 11:44 BST.

The record-breaking journey comes ten weeks before the firm relocates to its new London terminal after more than ten years of Channel Tunnel trains terminating at Waterloo International.

Richard Brown, chief executive of Eurostar, said that the new high-speed line would cut up to 20 minutes off journey times between London and the continent.

"Eurostar has today proved that our 186mph trains are by far the quickest way of travelling between France and Britain. Paris and London have joined the 'two-hour club' and our great cities are now even closer together," he said.

"Today's record-breaking run shows that High Speed One unleashes Eurostar's true capability to carry millions of travellers conveniently, comfortably and quickly between Britain and the continent."

Revamping St Pancras station and constructing the high-speed line linking the rail station to the UK side of the Channel Tunnel has cost a reported £5.8 billion.

The new line, known as High Speed One, runs for 68 miles from the entrance to the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone, to the central London station.

It passes through Ashford International station and Eurostar's new £100 million Ebbsfleet International station near Dartford, in Kent.

Eurostar plans to launch London to Paris rail services from St Pancras on November 14th, with the final trains to leave for the French capital from Waterloo on the previous evening.