On Tuesday evening, I was one of 1,000 guests to witness another addition to London’s rich transport history when the Queen officially opened the wonderfully restored St Pancras International Station and launched High Speed 1.
St Pancras International replaces Waterloo as the London home for Eurostar services and High Speed 1 is the 109km high-speed line between Central London and the Channel Tunnel on which Eurostar services will travel.
For London 2012, the opening of St Pancras International Station and High Speed 1 is significant because the 225km p/h Javelin® train service will run along this route. The Javelin® will get spectators from St Pancras International Station to Stratford International Station in just seven minutes and have the capacity to transport up to 25,000 people each hour to and from the Games.
The actor Timothy West compered the ceremony and played the part of William Barlow, the designer of St Pancras. He took us back to 1868 when the station, which was the largest single span building of its time, was built. He described the construction of the iron and glass building – also known as Barlow’s shed – and how it had changed over the years.
The station’s platform was built 14 feet above road level to create an undercroft to house barrels of Burton Beer brought to London by rail. Fast forward to 2007, this undercroft has been transformed into a main departures concourse and the roof has opened up to provide direct passenger access to the new international platforms.
Importantly and despite the modernisation, the original grandeur of the Victorian Gothic station has been retained. Marvelling at the thousands of glass panes, it was hard to believe that this iconic landmark survived two World Wars. It also escaped being demolished about 40 years ago when it obtained a Grade 1 listed building status just days before its demolition date.
One of the highlights of the opening, which included musical entertainment by soprano Katherine Jenkins, pop singer Lemar and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, was the emergence of two Eurostar trains and a class 395 train through a mist of dry ice with a light show flashing in the background.
High Speed 1, the project known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, is expected to cut London-Paris journey times by 20 minutes to two hours 15 minutes, while the London-Brussels trips will come down to one hour 50 minutes. Operations begin next week.
Serviced by six Underground lines, St Pancras International will provide a well connected transport hub for Games spectators. A further seven rail companies will operate between St Pancras International, King’s Cross and Euston stations. The new class 395 trains will start running from St Pancras International Station to Stratford International Station in 2009.
Congratulations to our delivery partner London & Continental Railways for this fantastic contribution to future London transport and for giving new life to its past.
