 The proposed route of HS2 into London will bring the line very close to the existing High Speed 1 (HS1) line which terminates at St Pancras station; at their closest points, the two high-speed lines will be only apart.The Department for Transport initially outlined plans to link the two high-speed lines in order to allow HS2 trains from the North of England to bypass London Euston and connect straight to HS1.This connection would have enabled direct rail services to be run from Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham to Paris, Brussels and other continental European destinations, realising the aims of the Regional Eurostar scheme, first proposed in the 1980s.