FANCY AN alternative to the usual grim spectacle of the office Christmas party? Richer companies are opting for something a bit different. Venetian masquerades, trips on Eurostar and celebrations at private fun- fairs and health-spas are among the most popular this year. Even not-so- rich organisations are moving away from drunken meals. Instead, some are giving everyone in the office pounds 20 to go off and have dinner alone or with colleagues of their choice. So if you enjoy the traditional seasonal jollies, you'd better stop working and get the office petition going immediately.

EUROSTAR, the cross-Channel rail operator, is seeking a reduction in the access charges it pays Railtrack and Eurotunnel after conceding that it may not hit its target of break-even by 2005.

NOSTALGIC TIMES, currently: it must be something to do with all these endless lists of significant this, significant that and significant other interminably marking the fin de millenium, allied to an understandable nervousness about the new one. Suddenly, battles long thought won and lost are being fought all over again: the little Anglo-French difficulty dies down, for example, only for us to be back in the heady days of A Woman's Right To Trousers, with Eurostar security staff rapidly following on from a trousered Professional Golfers' Association employee in demands for equal treatment on the lower limb interface.

Britain's railways are offering a host of deals for the winter traveller. We offer our Top 10 best buys - plus a few tips to help you on your way. By Mark Stratton

BRITISH EUROSTAR passengers are charged up to 20 per cent more than their continental counterparts, Eurostar admitted yesterday.

HUNDREDS OF passengers have been stranded on Britain's busiest commuter line as train drivers speed towards London, blissfully unaware that parts of their trains have "decoupled" themselves and are slowly grinding to a halt.

Hell's bells. Summer's here and the time is right for going on holiday. The only trouble is, you haven't booked one, and it's too late for browsing in glossy brochures. Instead, why not let Rhiannon Batten take the strain on your behalf? The fact is, summer's here and the time is right for a last-minute holiday bargain...

Just a channel-hop from Dover is a city rich with Flemish architecture, cobbled streets, old masters and mouthwatering `moules-frites'.

There is an obscure door in a Paris suburb which opens onto mile upon mile of tunnels and catacombs - the city of eternal darkness

EUROSTAR, THE operator of cross-Channel train services to Paris and Brussels, warned yesterday that fierce competition from airlines and lack of economic growth would slow up its drive this year to eliminate losses.

One in five of the Dutch population visits Efteling every year - since opening in 1952 it has come to be regarded as one of the Netherlands' institutions.

It's true. The Urban Task Force's chairman works for an out-of- town shopping mogul. By Nonie Niesewand

If we have difficulty naming famous Belgians, it may be because this nation's geniuses prefer anonymity. Consider, for example, the individual who devised rente viagere. This is a form of property conveyance in which the buyer pays rent monthly, and doesn't acquire title until, wait for it, the vendor dies. Imagine your life insurance policy paying off when someone else kicks the bucket.

FRANCE'S STATE-owned railway may have met its Waterloo. SNCF and the Belgian state operator SNCB are surrendering key functions in the running of Eurostar, the international passenger rail service, to a new company based at the London train station named after Wellington's famous military victory.