Note: This is the second version of this trip, as a result of the closure (until 2007) of the original St Pancras station, and the opening of the interim station. If you would like to view the original version of the trip, it is here.

This trip by train is a walk around the Kings Cross and St Pancras station complex, and both starts and finishes at Kings Cross St Pancras tube station. Whilst this is a fairly short walk, it encounters a tremendous amount of transport history from the canal era right through to the current construction work for the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) terminal at St Pancras.

One word of caution. Because of the amount of construction work going on, you may find that the parts of the route have been closed or moved, and that the building work described has moved on. I shall try to keep this page reasonably up to date, but in the meantime if you find significant differences between what is related here and what you find on the ground, please do tell me about it.

To start this walk, make your way to the Kings Cross St Pancras tube station, and follow the signs for Kings Cross mainline station.

Walking into the old station you will see that it has twin barrel vaulted roofs. And as taster for what is to come, here it is occupied by a Eurostar train.

Actually it is one of the shorter Eurostar 'North of London' sets built for services from Paris to various northern cities by-passing London. That service never started, rendering these sets surplus to requirements.As a result GNER has leased some of them to operate its 'White Rose' train service from London Kings Cross to Leeds.

In 2007 this train's bigger brothers (the Eurostar 'Three Capitals' sets) will be moving into a new home next door at St Pancras.

Walk up platform 8 as far as the entrance to platforms 9 to 11.

As you do so, keep an eye open for Hull Train's Turbostar diesel trains. Hull Trains is the third train operating company at Kings Cross, and is at the time of writing still the only fully commercial open access passenger operator on the national railway network. All the other train operating companies are franchises awarded through the Strategic Rail Authority.

Hull Trains run a single service, running from Kings Cross to the east coast port city of Hull.

Turning into the entrance to platforms 9 to 11, you will see ahead of you the suburban 'annex' to Kings Cross station, together with a side exit to the main station.

In this area you may also see the sign for platform 9¾, the departure point of the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter books.

Take the side exit, and you will see in front of you the modern box structure of the St Pancras interim station.

Here you can see the way that the interim station has been joined onto the eastern side of the north end of the existing trainshed. At present the interim station is being used to terminate the MidlandMainline trains that formerly used the St Pancras main station. Once the whole new St Pancras station complex is opened, this part of the station will be used to handle the CTRL domestic trains that will serve locations in Kent.

Cross St Pancras Road and enter the interim station.

The interim station is on two levels, with entrance and ticket office on the lower level and the platforms on the upper level.

This is the lower level, and as you can see the interim station suffers from a common problem with modern buildings, in that it leaks.

At the platform level there are 6 platforms (8 to13), although only 10 to 13 are currently in use. Platforms 8 to 9 will be needed later this year when the interim station has to handle Thameslink services which currently by-pass St Pancras in a tunnel, whilst a new station is built in that tunnel as part of the new St Pancras complex.

Here we can see a High Speed Train (left) and a Turbostar (right) both belonging to MidlandMainline, and used to provide services to cities in the English east midlands, such as Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield.

Looking the other way we can see into the now closed St Pancras trainshed; despite the demolition work going on within the station clock is still working.

As you can see here and in the previous picture, the surface of some parts of the concourse and platforms 11 to 13 are tiled with an expensive looking finish, whilst the rest is simply macadamed. And the junction lines up neatly with the edge of the old trainshed; presumably the macadamed parts are temporary and will eventually be removed to make way for extended platforms stretching back into the main trainshed.

Here is the view from the concourse at the platform level, looking down onto the entrance level and out to Kings Cross station.

Also to be seen is the entrance to a subway which will eventually link the interim station to the new northern ticket hall of the Kings Cross St Pancras tube station.

Hopefully this will open soon, because at the moment interchange between the interim station and the tube network is woefully inadequate. I know; I got soaked to the skin trying to get to the tube the first time I used the new station.

Once you have completed your viewing of the interim station, retrace your steps to Kings Cross station. By comparison to other major London terminal stations, Kings Cross always seems to be a very congested station, with small and cramped public spaces. It pays the price for being one of the first built (in 1852), and the constraints imposed by principal roads on two sides, St Pancras station on the third, and the need to tunnel the station throat under a canal on the fourth.

Because of insufficient room in the 8 platforms of the main station, many trains are banished to the suburban annex, the lower building to the left here, which contains just three short platforms and a minute concourse.

Re-enter the main station; just to your left is a footbridge spanning the width of the station to platform 1, but strangely with no access to any of the platforms in between.

Cross the footbridge, taking time to take in the views of the station. Here is the view looking towards to the main station concourse. On platform 8 (nearest the camera) is a suburban electric train run by WAGN railways to outer-suburban locations such as Stevenage and Cambridge. Platform 8 is often used for such trains as it is the nearest main station platform to the suburban station.

Here is the opposite view towards the station throat. In both these views, platform 5 is occupied by a rake of mark 4 coaches belonging to the Great North Eastern Railway Company (GNER), who run the long distance electrified services out of Kings Cross to destinations such as Leeds, York and Edinburgh. Almost certainly there is a class 92 electric locomotive on the country end of this train; but it is concealed by a diesel high-speed train (HST) entering platform 6. GNER uses these trains on services that go beyond the electrification; typically to Aberdeen in the north of Scotland. Also notice the short station throat before the line plunges into tunnel under a road and the Regents Canal.

Once you have taken in the views, continue across the footbridge to platform 1 and walk down this to the country end of the station. Leave the station by the cobbled taxi ramp, and continue in the same direction down York Way, and then left into Goods Way across the tunnel mouth.

From Goods Way, look back at Kings Cross station. The two spans in center view house the main station's platforms 1 to 8; the small lower shed to their right contains suburban platforms 9 to 11. In the right distance can be seen the much more imposing single span train shed of St Pancras.

Behind the camera is the Regents Canal, which predates the railways and obviously seriously constrained the layout of both Kings Cross (whose approach tracks go under the canal) and St Pancras (whose tracks go over the canal).

Continue along Goods Way with Kings Cross to your left and the canal (albeit well hidden) to your right. Pretty soon you will come back to the country end of the new St Pancras interim station. Notice that the track level here is elevated (at the level of the horizontal concrete beam) and that the station is topped by a 'rippled' glass roof quite different in style to the wide arch of the original St Pancras train shed.

Continue straight across the road junction and under the station extension on the signed footpath.

Passing under the station extension, the remains of the original approach viaduct to St Pancras station come into view. As can be seen here, when this picture was taken this was still in use, although clearly partially demolished. The train passing over is a MidlandMainline HST which serve medium-distance destination such as Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield.

Eventually this viaduct will be fully demolished, and replaced by the central and western parts of the station extension.

From between the new interim station and the old approach viaduct, a glimpse can be seen of the end of the original St Pancras train shed.

When all the work is complete, the interim station to the left in this photograph will serve the CTRL domestic trains. International trains to Paris and Brussels will be accommodated in the central part of the new station (built over the camera position) and extending into the existing train shed. The MidlandMainline trains will then terminate in a new western station extension to the right of the camera position. The Thameslink suburban trains which currently run underground at this location will continue to do so, but will serve a new underground set of platforms alongside the main station.

Continue on the footpath under the viaduct and turn right towards St Pancras Old Church.

If you have been wondering how a railway station ended up named after a saint, here is the answer. It was named after this mediaeval but much-restored little church.

The churchyard now provides a green oasis, but during the building of the railway saw grim scenes as the line cut through the burial ground. The resulting outcry forced the railway company to arrange reverent reburial, and the man given the job was a young Thomas Hardy. He never forgot this task, and wrote the poems 'The Leveled Churchyard' and 'In the Cemetery' on the subject.

Cross St Pancras Road in front of the church, and follow Chenies Place and Purchese Street before turning left into Brill Place.

At one time we could have turned right into Midland Road here, and walked down the west side of St Pancras station between it and the British Library. But the construction work has (temporarily?) put paid to that, and now we must retrace our steps back up Brill Place and turn left into Ossulston Street to come down the other side of the British Library.

The British Library holds copies of all books published in the UK and is an interesting place to visit in its own right. But today we pass on by, turning left into Euston Road and heading for the front of St Pancras station.

Actually the front of St Pancras station is really the front of the closed St Pancras hotel, built in the Gothic style by the famous Victorian architect Gilbert Scott and which is to be refurbished and reopened as part of the re-development of the station. The road work in front of the station is part of the work to enlarge the Kings Cross St Pancras tube station.

The main St Pancras station is now closed until 2007, so we can no longer see the interior. However lets take a last couple of looks at what the station used to look like, with views of the booking office and train shed.

Back in the here and now, instead of entering St Pancras station we must continue walking down Euston Road in front of the station. Eventually we see the frontage of Kings Cross station ahead.

This is just about the best view to be had of the front of Kings Cross at the moment. The whole area in front of the station is tied up with the work to expand the tube station below. Make your way through the building works, and enter the main station concourse to conclude this trip.

Maps

• A-Z London Street Atlas

Links

• A very large plan of the new St Pancras (4Mb)
• Other plans and diagrams for the new St Pancras
• St Pancras News with information on the interim station
• Great Buildings Online page on St Pancras station
• British Library web site
• Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) web site
• GNER web site
• Hull Trains web site
• MidlandMainline web site
• WAGN railway web site

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Page and all images copyright Chris Wood, 2003-2004. Page last updated on 8th June 2004.