St. Pancras station, under its new moniker, 'St. Pancras International', has become the new hub for Eurostar; but also – in a more far-reaching sense – has become one of the most modern, progressive train stations in the world. For the continental visitor, a train to St. Pancras culminates in disembarking in an astonishing, vast-ceilinged hangar that is – at least for the moment – amazingly clean and bright.
In here, there is the option of a bite to eat in a swanky little brasserie which also double’s a Europe’s longest champagne bar (!), along with a number of other, European-influenced ideas, which can be found everywhere in St. Pancras, for obvious reasons. Along the gastronomic vein, there is soon to be a farmer’s market at the entrance to the station, and there are plenty of food shops on the street level of the station.
Alongside this, there are fashion boutiques and concessions, high-street retailers and some more exotic, European imports. They really have pulled out all the stops in order to make this place THE destination in Europe, and it’s occasionally worth stopping to remember that the station in and of itself isn’t actually the destination!
St. Pancras tries very hard to banish those bitter memories of train stations and airports that act as a terribly boring, sterile in-between; a holding bay where there’s nothing to do but loiter, or eat your wildly overpriced torpedo roll from a shockingly under-stocked, station-only shop. With familiar brands everywhere, and a sense of style and effort at every turn, St. Pancras truly is the product of a freshly enlightened London.
Even for those of us traveling from England to one of the possible destinations available via Eurostar, St. Pancras is a welcome change from Waterloo. First Capital Connect provide a train to St. Pancras and the outlying towns and cities, and, on arrival in St. Pancras there really is that sense of Europe everywhere – it acts as a warm-up; a taster of what you can expect – if you’re lucky – at the other end of your journey. As King’s Cross continues to be re-developed - it remains Europe’s largest building site – it’s encouraging to visit St. Pancras. It shows what’s possible with the right vision, and it provides a wonderful introduction to modern, cosmopolitan London for tourists and Londoners alike.
