DAME Kelly Holmes, winner of two Olympic gold medals, was due to officially open Ebbsfleet International station today.

The double Olympic champion - the fastest woman over 800m and 1500m at the 2004 Olympic Games – said the new Eurostar station, just off the M25, was now the natural starting point for a high-speed sprint to the Continent for millions of people living across Essex, Surrey, Sussex and Kent.

More than 50 business leaders from Essex, Surrey, Sussex and Kent boarded a Eurostar train to Paris for a high-speed ‘green teach-in’ to discover how switching from plane to train can help their companies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and to experience the time-saving 186 mph speed of Eurostar services.

Dame Kelly said: “I am delighted to officially open Ebbsfleet International station as the new gateway from the Home Counties to Europe.

“If you want to be world-class in sport or in business you have to seek out and seize opportunities to get ahead, and Ebbsfleet International is now the fastest and greenest way to reach the opportunities of Europe, ahead of the competition.”