 After a lengthy process of route selection and public enquiries in the second half of the 1990s, work got under way on Section 1 from the Channel Tunnel to west of the Medway in 1998 and the line opened in 2003.Section 2, continuing the line to London St Pancras, started soon after Section 1 and was opened to the public on 14 November 2007.The HS1 line was finished on time and under budget.