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'St Pancras railway station' is a railway station in the St Pancras area of central London, between the new British Library building to the west and King's Cross station to the east. It is the southern terminus of the Midland Main Line, and is the main departure point from London for services to the East Midlands, via Leicester to Sheffield and other parts of Yorkshire.
St Pancras includes two of the most celebrated structures built in Britain in the Victorian era. The main trainshed (completed 1868), by the engineer William Henry Barlow, was the largest single-span structure built up to that time. In front of it is St Pancras Chambers, formerly the Midland Grand Hotel (1868-77), one of the most impressive examples of Victorian gothic architecture. Designed by architect George Gilbert Scott, the building initially appears to be in a polychromatic Italian Gothic style - inspired by John Ruskin's ''Stones of Venice'' - but on a closer viewing, it incorporates features from a variety of periods and countries.^[4] From such an eclectic approach Scott anticipated that a new genre would emerge.^[5]
The trainshed is currently closed to the public, but passengers using Midland Mainline services are able to see the restored roof of the trainshed from the escalators to platform level. Access to the spectacular interiors of the former hotel is by tour only.
Midland Mainline trains terminate in the western part of the extension which will accommodate Eurostar trains when the station becomes the London terminus of Channel Tunnel Rail Link. It has been announced that LCR intend to brand the CTRL as 'High Speed 1/HS1' from the start of service on 14 November 2007.

Contents

History

Incentive

Design and construction

20th Century

Current operations

Future developments

Future use of the station as St Pancras International

Thameslink station

King's Cross St. Pancras tube station

Fictional uses

Notes and references

External links

History

Incentive

The station was commissioned by the Midland Railway. Prior to the 1860s the company had a concentration of routes in the Midlands and north of London but not its own route to the capital. From 1840 Midland trains to and from London ran from Euston using the London and North Western line via a junction at Rugby. Congestion and delays south of Rugby quickly became commonplace as services expanded.
A new London line was proposed around 1845, towards the end of the period of speculation later dubbed "Railway Mania". The Great Northern line was approved by Parliament in 1846 and a Midland Railway spur from Leicester to Hitchin was agreed in 1847. While the Great Northern line was constructed, the Midland spur was quietly abandoned in 1850 due to financial problems. Pressure from businesses in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, notably from William Whitbread, who owned roughly 12% of the land over which the line would run, revived the spur scheme. The line was re-presented to Parliament and approved in 1853. Building began quickly but did not proceed at any great pace: the line was opened in mid-1857. The Midland Railway secured initial running power for seven years at a minimum of £20,000 a year. The Midland Company now had two routes into London, through Euston and King's Cross, and traffic quickly expanded to take advantage, especially with the coal trade with the Midland Railway transporting around a fifth of the total coal to London by 1852.
In mid-1862, due to the enormous traffic for the second International Exhibition, the Great Northern and the Midland companies clashed over the restricted capacity of the line. This was regarded as the stimulus for the Midland Company to build its own line and surveying for a 49.75-mile (80-km) line from Bedford to London began in October 1862. However, the Midland Company had been buying large portions of land in the parish of St Pancras since 1861.

St Pancras was an unprepossessing district, with notorious slums. The area's other landmarks were the covered Fleet River, Regent's Canal, a gas-works, and an old church with a large graveyard. For the terminus the Midland Railway chose a site backing onto New Road (later Euston Road) bounded by Pancras Road and York Way, a few hundred yards to the east of Euston and immediately to the west of King's Cross station. The problem canal was to be tunnelled under (the Belsize Tunnel), although the churchyard and the gas-works were added problems. The site was occupied by housing, the estates of Somers Town and the slums of Agar Town. The landlords sold up for £19,500 and cleared out the residents, without compensation, for a further £200. The church was demolished and a replacement built for £12,000 in 1868–69 in Kentish Town. The demolished church was re-erected piece by piece in 1867 as a Congregational church in Wanstead, and still exists (now a United Reformed church).
The company intended to connect from the site through a tunnel (the St Pancras Branch) to the new Metropolitan Line, opened in 1863 running from Paddington to Farringdon Street below the Euston Road, providing for a through route to Kent.

Design and construction

The sloping and irregular form of the site posed certain problems and the Midland Railway directors were determined to impress London with their new station. They could see the ornateness of Euston, with its famous arch; the functional success of Lewis Cubitt's King's Cross; the design innovations in iron, glass and layout by Brunel at Paddington; and, significantly, the single span roof designs of John Hawkshaw being built at Charing Cross and Cannon Street.
The initial plan of the station was laid out by William Henry Barlow, the Midland's consulting engineer. The single span roof of 243 ft, the greatest built up to that time, was adopted on purely economic grounds to make maximum use of the space without obstructions (the roof design was a collaboration between Barlow and Rowland Mason Ordish). A space for a fronting transverse hotel was included in the plan and the overall plan was accepted in early 1865.
A competition was held for the actual design of the station buildings and hotel in May 1865. Eleven architects were invited to compete, submitting their designs in August. In January 1866 the brick Gothic revival designs of the prominent George Gilbert Scott were chosen. There was some disquiet at the choice, in part because Scott's designs, at £315,000, were by far the most expensive. The sheer grandeur of Scott's frontage impressed the Midland Railway directors, achieving their objective of outclassing every other station in the capital. A subsequent financial squeeze trimmed several floors from the frontage and certain ornateness but the impressive design largely remained.
Construction of the station, minus the roof which was a separate tender, was budgeted at £310,000, and after a few problems Waring Brothers' tender of £320,000 was accepted. The roof tender went to the Butterley Company for £117,000. Work began in the autumn of 1864 with a temporary bridge over the canal and the demolition of Somers Town and Agar Town. Construction of the station foundations did not start until July 1866 and delays through technical problems, especially in the roof construction, were commonplace.

The graveyard posed the initial problems - the main line was to pass over it on a girder bridge and the branch to the Metropolitan under it in a tunnel. Disturbance of the remains was expected but was, initially, carelessly handled. The tunnelling was especially delayed by the presence of decomposing human remains, the many coffins encountered, and a London-wide outbreak of cholera leading to the requirement to enclose the River Fleet entirely in iron. Despite this the connection was completed in January 1867.
The company was hoping to complete most essential building by January 1868. The goods station in Agar Town received its first train in September 1867, but passenger services through to the Metropolitan line did not begin until July 1868. However, the station was not finished when it opened, to little ceremony, on 1 October. The final rib for the trainshed roof had been fitted only in mid-September and the station was a mass of temporary structures for the passengers. The first train, an express for Manchester, ran non-stop from Kentish Town to Leicester - the longest non-stop run in the world at 97 miles (156 km).
Work on the Midland Grand Hotel did not begin until mid-1868. With construction in a number of stages, the hotel did not open to customers until 5 May 1873. The process of adding fixtures and fittings was contentious as the Midland Railway cut Scott's perceived extravagances and only in late 1876 was Scott finally paid off. The total costs for the building were £438,000.

20th Century

The Midland Grand Hotel was closed in 1935, and the building was subsequently used as offices. In 1962, there was a proposal to demolish the hotel (also known as St. Pancras Chambers) which provoked strong and successful opposition. It was announced in May 2007 that a statue of John Betjeman would be erected on one of the platforms of St Pancras station, in recognition of his campaign to save the frontage. The building eventually fell vacant in the 1980s.
The deserted building was a popular location for film and television productions and appeared in both the Spice Girls' first video and the film ''Batman Begins''. In 2005 planning consent was granted for a refurbishment of the hotel building: most of the public rooms and a small fraction of the bedrooms of the original hotel will be incorporated into a new hotel, but the majority of the new hotel's bedrooms will be in a newly built wing to the west of the Victorian trainshed. The remainder of the original hotel will be converted into apartments.
On the 23 July 2007, a small fire occurred whilst renovation took place^[6][7][8].
The renovation has exposed the site of Henry Bessemer's Baxter House, where steel was secretly developed. It was on the east side of Pancras Road. So far nothing of substance has been reported.

Current operations

St Pancras is the London terminus for rail services operated by Midland Mainline, with routes to the East Midlands and Yorkshire regions of England. Towns and cities served include Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham, Derby, Chesterfield and Sheffield. Occasional trains also run to Burton upon Trent, Leeds, Barnsley, Scarborough and York.
The platforms in the station are at an upper level and accessible by lift or escalator. Space for passenger facilities at the station, in particular waiting rooms and catering, is currently limited due to on-going construction work. However, facilities at the station meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act, and station staff can provide assistance to passengers who require it.
There are half hourly services to Nottingham station, half hourly services to Derby station (with hourly continuations to Sheffield) with interval stops as mentioned above:
''Summer special services to Scarborough via Leicester, Sheffield and York
''Winter special services operate only as far as York (not Scarborough) via Leicester, Sheffield and Doncaster''
''Peak Hour services to Burton upon Trent; Leeds via Sheffield, Doncaster and Wakefield; and Barnsley via Meadowhall''
Because of the ongoing building works on the old station, vehicle and pedestrian access to the station is not easy. There is a 500 m walk from King's Cross St. Pancras tube station, Euston Road and most bus stops. However, there is a car and taxi drop-off point next to the station entrance, which passengers with limited mobility may use. New large long- and short-stay car parks have been created beneath the platform extension.
Between 12 April 2004 and 14 July 2006, trains terminated at an interim station occupying the eastern part of the extension immediately adjacent to the entrance. With the move of services to the western platforms, there is now an additional 70 m walk at the lower level to the lifts/escalators.

Future developments

''London and Continental Railways'' (LCR), which was created at the time of British rail privatisation, was selected by the UK government in 1996 to undertake the reconstruction of St Pancras, as well as construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and the takeover of the British share of the Eurostar operation, ''Eurostar (UK)''. The original LCR consortium members were National Express Group, Virgin Group, SG Warburg, Bechtel and London Electricity. Whilst the project was under development by British Rail it was managed by ''Union Railways'' which became a wholly owned subsidiary of LCR. Most mainline stations are owned by Network Rail.
However LCR has had ownership of St Pancras station since privatisation to allow for the station's redevelopment to take place.
Originally the whole of the CTRL, including St Pancras, was to be constructed as a single project. However, in 1998 it ran into serious financial difficulties and with its future looking uncertain the project was split into two separate phases, to be managed by ''Union Railways (South)'' and ''Union Railways (North)''. A recovery programme was agreed whereby LCR sold government-backed bonds worth £1.6bn to pay for the construction of Section 1, with the future of Section 2 (including St Pancras) on target for completion in 2007. The original intention had been for the new railway, once completed, to be run by ''Union Railways'' as a separate line to the rest of the British railway network. However, as part of the 1998 rescue plan it was agreed that following completion section 1 would be purchased by Railtrack, along with an option to purchase section 2. In return Railtrack were committed to operate the whole route as well as St Pancras station which, unlike all other former British Rail stations, was transferred to LCR/Union Railways in 1996.

In 2001 Railtrack announced that due to its own financial problems it would not undertake to purchase section 2 once it was completed. This triggered a second restructuring. The 2002 plan agreed that the two sections would have different infrastructure owners (Railtrack for section 1, LCR for section 2) but with common management by Railtrack. Following yet further financial problems at Railtrack its interest in the CTRL was sold back to LCR who then sold the operating rights for the completed line to Network Rail, Railtrack's successor. Under this arrangement LCR will become the sole owner of both sections of CTRL and of St Pancras station, as per the original 1996 plan.
As a consequence of the project's restructuring the LCR consortium is, as of 2006, construction firms Arup, Bechtel, Halcrow and Systra (who form ''Rail Link Engineering'' (RLE)), transport operators National Express Group and SNCF (who operate the ''Eurostar (UK)'' share of the Eurostar service with SNCB and British Airways), electricity company EDF and UBS Investment Bank. On completion of section 1 by RLE, the line was handed over to Union Railways (South), who then handed it over to ''London & Continental Stations and Property'' (LCSP) who are the long term owners of the line. Once section 2 of the line has been completed it will be handed over to Union Railways (North) who will hand it over to LCSP. Management, operation and maintenance of the entire line, including St Pancras, will be undertaken by Network Rail.
'Service changes'

Future use of the station as St Pancras International

Following completion of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) and redevelopment of the station complex, the main station building—the Barlow train shed—will be re-opened as the terminus for Eurostar trains. The station will become known as St Pancras International from 14 November 2007. The extension constructed beyond the Barlow train shed will accommodate the long Eurostar trains and domestic traffic originally displaced from the main shed. All domestic platforms will be within the extension, sandwiching the international platforms which extend the full length into the original station. On 4 September 2007, the first test train ran from Paris Gare du Nord to St Pancras.^[9]
The main Barlow shed stands 6m (20ft) above street level. The new international departure hall has been constructed in the undercroft, below the Barlow train shed in the area formerly used to store beer barrels brought down from Burton-upon-Trent. The redeveloped station concourse will feature many more shops. As of June 2007, work on readying St Pancras station for the start of Eurostar operations is nearly complete. Virtually all scaffolding has been removed from the outside of the building (after many years of work) allowing remaining internal work to take place. Work will continue on the eastern side of the station in preparation for the launch of domestic operations by Southeastern using the CTRL. A former entrance to the station through St. Pancras Chambers will be replaced by new domestic and international entrances located in a wide "gangway" half-way down the station (below the join of the new and older parts of the station).
Midland Mainline will cease operations on 11 November 2007, with their services being transferred to the new East Midlands franchise to be operated by East Midlands Trains. On commencement of the new franchise, off-peak departures will be increased by one additional service per hour to a total of five trains per hour. The additional service will be a dedicated suburban service to Kettering with a proposed extension to Corby.
When complete the station will feature 13 platforms at the main high-level level. East Midlands Trains services will use the western platforms (numbered 1–4), Eurostar services will use the middle platforms (numbered 5–10) and Southeastern high-speed services to Kent will occupy the eastern platforms (numbered 11–13).
During the 2012 Olympic Games, St. Pancras will be the terminus for the Olympic Javelin, a seven minute shuttle service designed to ferry spectators between the Olympic Park in Stratford and Central London.

Thameslink station

On 9 December 2007^[10], as part of the Thameslink Programme St. Pancras International will gain platforms on the Thameslink network (currently operated by First Capital Connect (FCC))^[11], located under the main St. Pancras station^[12], replacing the current King's Cross Thameslink station further down the line.

The Thameslink Programme involves the introduction of 12-car trains across the enlarged Thameslink network, and as extending the platforms at the existing King's Cross Thameslink station was thought wholly impractical (requiring alterations to the Clerkenwell tunnel and the Circle/Hammersmith & City/Metropolitan Underground lines, which would be extremely disruptive and prohibitively expensive^[13]), a new Thameslink station was proposed, to be situated under the existing station.
With the exception of City Thameslink, all Thameslink stations to the north of the River Thames can only accommodate a maximum train length of 8 cars. In addition, King's Cross Thameslink is widely regarded to have narrow platforms, poor quality access and egress, and is located several hundred metres east of the major rail termini of London King's Cross and St. Pancras station^[13], which means passengers who wish to walk between either of the two termini and the existing Thameslink station have to traverse several busy traffic junctions (though it is possible to walk along the Victoria Line platforms - if one has a ticket that will let you in and out of the Underground area).
As part of the second phase of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project (CTRL; now branded 'High Speed 1'), London & Continental Railways (LCR), the company responsible for delivering the aforementioned project, was authorised by the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act of 1996 to construct an underground 'box' on the Thameslink route, which would house the new Thameslink station. In order for this to happen, the existing Thameslink tunnels between Kentish Town and King's Cross Thameslink had to be closed between 11 September 2004 and 15 May 2005 while the works were carried out. As a result, Thameslink services from the north terminated at St. Pancras, while services from the south terminated at King's Cross Thameslink.^[15]
After the blockade of the route was finished, the new station was still only a bare concrete shell, and could not take passengers. The budget for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link works did not include work on the fitting-out of the station, as these works had originally been part of the separate Thameslink 2000 works programme. Despite lobbying by rail operators who wished to see the station open at the same time as St Pancras International, the Government failed to provide additional funding to allow the fit out works to be completed immediately following the line blockade. Eventually, on 8 February 2006, Alistair Darling, the then Secretary of State for Transport, announced £50 million worth of funding for the fit-out of the station, plus another £10-15 million for the installation of associated signalling and other lineside works in the area.^[16]
The station will allow passengers to travel to destinations such as Bedford, Luton and St Albans in the north, and to places like Wimbledon, East Croydon and Brighton in the south. There will also be direct services to London Gatwick and London Luton airports. The Thameslink Programme will enlarge the Thameslink network more than threefold from 50 to 172 stations.^[17]
The following will also apply:

★ Escalator and lift links to the main part of the station will be included for travel to destinations in Europe and the East Midlands, served by Eurostar and East Midlands Trains respectively (the latter will replace Midland Mainline from 11 November 2007), and from December 2009, Southeastern will also serve St. Pancras and transport passengers to locations like Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International, Gravesend and Folkestone;^[18]

★ Direct passageways from the concourse of St. Pancras International to the Western and later Northern Ticket Halls of King's Cross St. Pancras tube station for travel across London via the Underground;

★ London King's Cross station is within walking distance of the station and can be used for onward travel to the Home Counties, East Anglia, the North East and Scotland. Services are provided by Great North Eastern Railway (GNER), FCC and Hull Trains;

★ Connections with taxi, bus and coach services for onward travel across the country will be provided.

King's Cross St. Pancras tube station

Main articles: King's Cross St. Pancras tube station

King's Cross St. Pancras tube station is the busiest station on the London Underground serving both King's Cross and St Pancras main line stations in the London Borough of Camden. It is in Travelcard Zone 1.
Major work is ongoing at King's Cross St. Pancras tube station to link the various station entrances to two new ticket halls for London Underground and reduce overcrowding.

Fictional uses

St Pancras station doubles as the residence of the Asgardian gods in Douglas Adams' novel ''The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul''.
In the story "Gordon Goes Foreign" from The Eight Famous Engines, a foreign engine visiting Sodor argues with Gordon and Duck about London's station. Gordon says it's King's Cross, Duck says it's Paddington, and the visitor says it's Euston. When events transpire leading Gordon to take a train to London, he is disappointed to find that it's St. Pancras.
St Pancras station is easily recognized as the exterior set for the King's Cross Station shots in the popular Harry Potter film series.
St Pancras is shown in the 1995 film Richard III as King Edward's seat of government.

Notes and references

1. National Rail
2. Although St Pancras is in Zone 1, there is currently nowhere you can get to from the railway station with a London Travelcard. This will change in December 2007, when St Pancras Thameslink station is opened and St Pancras is connected via First Capital Connect services to Farringdon and other central London stations.
3. High Speed 1
4. (After Lord Palmerston vetoed Scott's Gothic designs for the Foreign Office) "At St Pancras, however, Scott got his chance. This time he decided to play down the Italian element. The polychromy is still there, But the skyline is no longer rectangular but syncopated, no longer Italian but Dutch or Flemish; and some of the details are Early English or Early French. The Cloth Hall at Ypres is the origin of the station entrance tower; Oudenaarde town hall probably supplied the inspiration for his gabled and pinnacled hotel entrance; the mouldings around the great entrance are Early French; the first-floor oriel windows incorporate distant echoes of Bishop Bridport's tomb at Salisbury Cathedral; other windows just as clearly, are Anglicised Venetian. With a pedigree like that - Pugin, Ruskin and Viollet-le-Duc - now wonder Scott thought his design 'almost too good for its purpose'."
J Mordaunt Crook, ''The Dilemma of Style'', John Murray, London 1989 p93

5. "Classic and Gothic will probably run on for many years collaterally ... til at length ... they will unite in style infinitely more Gothic than Classic"
Scott, ''Secular and Domestic Architecture'', 1858 p277 cited in Mordaunt-Crook
6. Camden Gazette: St Pancras blaze disaster averted
7. Guardian: ''St Pancras blaze causes transport chaos''
8. BBC News: Roads closed by St Pancras fire
9. First Outing for Faster Eurostar BBC News, 4 September 2007
10.

11.
King's Cross & St Pancras Upgrade alwaystouchout.com

12. First Capital Connect site on St. Pancras International
13. Thameslink 2000 Closures Statement of Reasons Network Rail '[see pages 19 and 20]'
14. Thameslink 2000 Closures Statement of Reasons Network Rail '[see pages 19 and 20]'
15.
New station for Thameslink trains

16.

17.
THE £3.5BN THAMESLINK PROJECT CLEARS MAJOR HURDLE Network Rail

18. UK Services London and Continental Stations and Property

External links

★ Aerial photo from Google maps

★ Construction progress information from the official LCR website

★ Urban75 web magazine feature - photos of St Pancras and Midland Grand Hotel interiors

★ Skyscrapernews.com building detail - photos and info of the building and its history

★ Official website by LCR

★ Official St Pancras Chambers website - information on the history of the hotel and redevelopment plans

★ John Betjeman statue

★ Baxter House (1)

★ Baxter House (2)

★ Department for Transport – the government body responsible for the UK transport system

★ LCR – the proprietor of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project

★ First Capital Connect – the TOC responsible for running train services on the Thameslink network

★ alwaystouchout – a guide to transport projects in London

★ Thameslink Programme – the planned expansion and upgrade of the Thameslink network

★ Official website of St Pancras International station

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