St Pancras railway station  

51.530263, -0.125034 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Giant sculpture on the first floor in the southern part of the station. Man leaning against the ear and reading a newspaper
Year on the newspaper
2009

Historical background

Kings Cross
// The Kings Cross has seen almost everything. There was a crossing over the river Fleet, the church of Roman missionaries, a market, roads, hot spots, hospitals, industrial area and a railway. A furious army of Boudicca fought the Roman invaders here (presumably). Some said here, on the territory of present-day Kings Cross terminal, Boudicca was buried (actually not), and there is a boarding the Hogwarts Express in the same terminal (and that's the truth). Kings Cross station was built in the middle of XIX century on the same place where a monument to king George IV was, this monument gave a name to the area and the station. The monument was demolished, but the name remained. The terminal was built with two platforms. Progress does not stand still, and a century later, when Donald Bisset overheard the quarrel between Kings Cross and St Pancras, the number of platforms became ten. Now there are twelve of them, but you will not find the platform number 12, because the numbering of platforms at Kings Cross station now starts from zero, to the delight of programmers.

// St Pancras
// St Pancras station, almost the same age as King's Cross, stands nearby to it. Both railway stations played an important role not only for passenger transport but also for freight transport. Carried coal, fish, potatoes and much more. Since its construction, St Pancras has taken also special beer trains at least three per day. It is now surprising to hear that half a century ago it was considered unnecessary, and plans to demolish this beautiful building and its adjacent hotel and to transfer trains to King's Cross and Euston were seriously discussed. Fortunately, thanks to the leak of this information from British Rail, the idea of the of St Pancras demolition became known, and it caused public outrage. St Pancras was recognised as an architectural monument. Since 2007, after a long renovation, it has been receiving international Eurostar trains. A monument to the main activist against the destruction of St Pancras, poet John Betjeman, stands at the railway station.

Present in routes of categories Lion-Pro, Griffin

Passed by: 27/34 (79%).

By categories:

  • Griffin: 3/3 (100%)
  • Lion-Pro: 24/31 (77%)