eurostars new home st pancreas international station opens

St Pancras International officially opened

hign speed 1 trains uk The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, on the 6th November launched High Speed 1, the UK's first section of high speed railway and officially opened St Pancras International Station, the magnificently restored Victorian train station in the centre of London.

St Pancras International opens to the public when the Eurostar service completes its move from Waterloo to St Pancras International on 14 November 2007

london st pancras International Rail Station

The redevelopment of St Pancras is the incredible £800 million architectural restoration and extension of a unique London landmark, with its impressive Victorian Gothic architecture.

High Speed 1 is the first true high-speed line in the UK. More than £10bn of investment in regeneration schemes around the new international stations of Ebbsfield, Stratford and St Pancras has taken place. The UK will be fully connected to the growing European high-speed network, a network that now stretches across 3,750 km (2,330 miles). Now more than ever, high-speed rail is seen as the seamless, direct and environmentally friendly way to travel long distances.

The creation of the "Barlow" shed was one of the great feats of Victorian engineering. The roof is 689 ft long by 100 ft high and with a 243 ft span it was the largest enclosed space in the world - a record held for many years. Restoration work has seen the Barlow Shed completely reglazed and the paint work taken back to its intended pale sky blue.

St Pancras International station also boasts the Europe's longest champagne bar in the UK, at over 90 metres in length. Situated on the upper level where Eurostar departs, it is the perfect place to glance at the departing or arriving Eurostars. Others may prefer a romantic dinner in one of the many gastromonic restaurants.

© LCR - Sculpture called The Meeting Place

St Pancras International indeed intends to become a meeting place in its own right: people will meet under the big Victorian clock which as been reconstructed by the original makers Dent, at the foot of a 9 metre statue by British sculptor Paul Day. Dubbed 'The Meeting Place', the sculpture represents a couple embracing affectionately and tenderly.

London & Continental Railways, is working with Manhattan Loft Corporation to regenerate St Pancras Chambers into a 5 star Renaissance Marriott hotel with 244 bedrooms, 2 restaurants, 2 bars, a health and leisure centre, a ballroom, 20 meeting and function rooms, and 67 private apartments and penthouses.

http://www.stpancras.com