±±¾©Èü³µpk10

Site: Eurostar

Where to find it: www.eurostar.co.uk

Last week, as the hype surrounding Valentine’s Day was reaching its

peak, I realised I needed to improve on my incompetent performance last

year when we ended up in our local Indian restaurant.

Spurred on by radio advertising, Paris for lunch seemed a good

choice.

So I called up the Eurostar site to check out the options.

The plain format of the site immediately appealed to me. To view it

required neither exotic plug-ins nor the computing power of a small

government.

It is simple, uncluttered and relatively quick to download, although

there is at least one big graphic file which might cause some

indigestion in the smaller machine. The animated train zooming through

the page is rather predictable and can get quite annoying, but the

overall impression is very good.

The site uses a simple framed structure which is easy to navigate,

although the actual size of the frames might be too large for users with

small screens. Buttons on the home page lead to the various sections,

with ’quicklink’ options allowing one to navigate straight to the most

popular information.

The site offers good content in that it is comprehensive, relevant and

timely. It has all that one would expect: timetables, special offers,

how and where to buy tickets, information for business and frequent

travellers and holiday information.

One obvious area which is missing is the ability to book tickets online

but perhaps this will be in phase two of the site?

The Ticket Desk section does give information on where and how to book

by telephone, but the functionality of online booking would enhance the

site and make it work harder for Eurostar.

In conclusion, this site is refreshingly dull and slightly corporate,

but ultimately it has content, content and content - which it delivers

quickly. One final question: Will our Gallic brothers wonder why there

is no French language site or French section?