Terminus blues

On my way to a meeting in London I passed through King’s Cross station (which is where one of the Cambridge lines terminates). KX was always the poor relation of its grand baroque next-door neighbour — St Pancras station. And — as the picture illustrates — it’s become very tatty. Now, to make matters worse, its relative impoverishment is set to increase. As the Guardian reports: “From 2007, St Pancras station, expanded from eight to 13 platforms, will be the principal London terminus for Eurostar trains scything through the North Downs, under the Thames and by means of viaducts and tunnels to North Pole Junction, the Regent’s Canal and Barlow’s train shed. The platforms at St Pancras will be extended under what Lansley describes as a “lightweight and diaphanous” steel and glass roof. Eurostar trains will take centre stage, with Midland main line and suburban trains on either side. Barlow’s roof will be restored to its original condition, its great iron trusses painted sky blue as they would have been in the 1860s.”

And what is to happen to poor old King’s Cross? Why, it is to be ‘regenerated’.