The History of St Pancras International Railway Station
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Published 2019-03-15
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St Pancras railway station which since 2007 has been known as St Pancras International, is a major London terminus.
It has been home to Eurostar since it moved there in 2007 from Waterloo Station providing services to continental Europe from London via High Speed 1 and the Channel Tunnel to Belgium, France and the Netherlands and beyond.
Tucked up in the far left hand corner of St Pancras you will find East Midlands Trains services to Corby, Sheffield and Nottingham on the Midland Main Line
In the right hand corner Southeastern provide high-speed trains to Kent via Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International.
Down below are the Thameslink platforms A and B that offer cross-London services from Kings Lynn and Bedford in the north as far as Brighton in the south.
The station was constructed by the Midland Railway, which had an extensive network across the Midlands and the North of England, but no dedicated line into London.
After major rail traffic problems following the 1862 International Exhibition, Midlands Railway decided to build a connection from Bedford to London using their own terminus.
The station was opened on 1 October 1868, with the beautiful Midland Grand Hotel being the station's façade with it breathtaking architecture.
St Pancras was built during a period of expansion for the Midland Railway, with major routes to Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Carlisle opening during this time.
By 1902, there were 150 trains arriving and departing the station daily though the station was far less busy than Waterloo or Liverpool Street.
Great Eastern Railway used St Pancras as a "West End" terminus for trains to Great Yarmouth, Norwich, Lowestoft until 1917 when services were suspended because of World War I and sadly were never resumed.
The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway offered boat train services from St Pancras, The trains ran to Tilbury via South Tottenham and Barking. Tilbury Docks then provided a connection by boat to Scandinavia and even Australia.
There was also a service from St Pancras to Southend Central. Boat trains ran from St Pancras until 1963, after which they were moved to Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street.
The Railways Act of 1921 forced the merger of the “Midland Railways” with the “London and North Western Railway” forming the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, The LMS.
On the creation of British Railways in 1948, St Pancras received major investment after neglect by the LMS. Destinations included the London area services to North Woolwich, St Albans and Bedford. Long-distance trains reached as far as Glasgow, Leeds, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester.
St Pancras also hosted famous named trains including “The Palatine” to Manchester, The “Thames-Clyde Express” to Glasgow, and “The Master Cutler” to Sheffield.
Unfortunately by the 1960s, St Pancras was surplus to requirement and many services were diverted to King's Cross and Euston however there was fierce opposition to its proposed closure and demolition of both the station and hotel.
Demolition of the nearby Euston Station and Arch a few years earlier was met with strong opposition, led by John Betjeman to try to stop the destruction and save the distinctive architecture of St Pancras. This was successful and in 1967 the station achieved Grade I listing, preventing it’s demolition and any drastic modifications.
The station limped on in a semi-derelict state. By the 1980s British Rail main-line services to the East Midlands were provided by the InterCity sector, with suburban services by Network SouthEast. Following the privatisation of British Rail, the long-distance services from St Pancras were franchised to Midland Mainline.
These constituted only a few trains an hour and left the station underused, empty, and in very poor condition. The beautiful roof, still mostly blacked out since world war 2, was in danger of collapse. The station was in critical need of repair.
Thankfully this appeared in the late 20th century becoming the terminal for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in a massive urban regeneration plan across East London.
The complex underwent a much needed £800 million refurbishment which was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in November 2007.
A security-sealed terminal area was constructed for Eurostar services to continental Europe, with additional platforms for domestic trains to the north and south-east of England.
The restored station has 15 platforms, a shopping centre, and a coach facility.
St Pancras is now owned by London and Continental Railways and managed by Network Rail (High Speed), a subsidiary of Network Rail.
All Comments (21)
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I have been using St Pancras station since the steam train days. Absolutely delighted to see the Victorian era masterpiece evolve into the modern international transport hub, and I think the men of vision who opened it so long ago would be proud of their creation today. The only sour note is that gang of intellectual pygmies in the 1960s who tried to destroy it.
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What I Think Of The Stations Modernization: As long as the services run on time, are clean, tidy, and comfortable, then making it into a transport hub is fine, even making it a mini city is fine, as long as its heritage is preserved, which it has been with some minor modernization to bring it into the 21st century.
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St. Pancras International stations is such a wonderful station in Central London. Beautiful station 😍
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First time in London (I’m from California) I took the train from st pancras to Paris, wonderful station
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I’m sitting, eating a delicious Chinese meal, in a restaurant directly opposite the station. In my opinion the facilities within the revamped station are superb. I safely arrived by train, direct from Brighton, and will return home tomorrow after attending a concert this evening nearby. This is THE age of the train 🚂🛤️🥳
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Not been there since the early1960s in my train spotting days, then it was dark, dirty and grotty. It was saved thankfully unlike Euston. So let is be thankful and it looks marvelous. Next time I am in the UK I am going to go or come from Paris on the EUro-rail. Great use of a classic building.
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Really enjoyed learning about the history, I try to revisit both beautifully restored stations when ever I return to the UK
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Love to know more about Liverpool Lime street and the old now demolished Birkenhead Woodside Thank you, great informative video.
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Great Station and Transport Hub.
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I love st Pancras station. But I would have loved to see it before 2007
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The resurrection of St P and King's X is a fabulous job. Well done to everybody from Sir John and those who saved St P to the architects and workers who rebuilt both.
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P.S. St Pancras also serves Leicester. In spite of being the largest city in the East Midlands. It doesn’t get a mention (apart from one accidental slip)... I think John would be very pleased ..
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Excellent video. Really enjoyed it - very informative and well presented! Keep up the good work 🙂
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Whilst I understand the sentiment behind many who are dissapointed that St Pancras not being the "dark hub of smokey diesels" that it once was (indeed similar views must have existed on the switch from steam to diesels!), One has to realise these are train stations designed for a purpose, and whilst having old steam and deisels sleepily huffing and wheezing in and out, and the relaxed pace of porters with trollys awaiting, that would not be the original intention of the original builders and owners, who designed it as a magnificent terminus and starting point for adventures to far flung places, a center of attention and a destination in its own right. Indeed in the in the latter part of the 20th Century it was forgottten and underused, and if it didnt become St Pancras International , it would likely have been closed, and become a shopping center or something similar. At least now it is STILL a railway station, and STILL perfroms the function it was designed to do, be a portal to incredible far flung destinations, and in fact, with Intenational services, certainly more far flung than ever before! The works were faithful to the original, whilst modernising to the 21st century. As such, I think the original builders would probably be very happy with its role now.
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Most enjoyable.
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I am from New York City and live in Washington, DC. I have been to St. Pancras multiple times due to my job. I absolutely LOVE it. I think modernization is a good thing and if a railway station can incorporate shops and restaurants in addition to transporting people, I am all for it. New York City is in the process of renovating an old post office into a major railway station and I'm looking forward to it opening at the end of the year. Washington, DC is going to be renovating Union Station to modernize it. I think it's needed. And clearly, St. Pancras needed it as well. For me, it has become more of a destination. It's a beautiful station and I believe Sir John would LOVE what it has become.
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The Manchester train was the Palatine not the Palestine and the Master Cutler did not leave from St Pancras. It left from Marylebone and later Kings Cross.
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The Thameslink don't go to kings Lynn as the 700s have gauging issues
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Does anyone know how many platforms St.Pancras had before it was reconstructed in the 2000's?
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Id rather eurostar to stay in waterloo i loved the station
