The Javelin high speed train is here

[teuchter]

I'm sure there's an exit for the Tube that comes out just about where the domestic platforms are.

Not sure that there is now, but once all the Kings X/St pancras rebuilding is complete, there will be.

 

[tim]

Not sure that there is now, but once all the Kings X/St pancras rebuilding is complete, there will be.

That's not much fucking good for anyone who has the misfortune to have to use the place dragging a suitcase. Typical of these absurd prestige projects bugger the passengers lets have a six mile long champage bar and a load of uselessly twee over priced shops, hopefully they'll all go bust and end up boarded up.

St Spunkeras International as well as boasting about their film location friendliness provide this interactive map which not only emphasise how far the walk is does not allow you to escape onto the tube when you reach it.

Their contempt for bog standard domestic passengers is reflected in the following blurb in which they don't even get a mention

St Pancras is not just the key destination for the Eurostar and high-speed rail in the UK - but a truly grand retail and hospitality destination - a great place to meet.

 

[teuchter]

That's not much fucking good for anyone who has the misfortune to have to use the place dragging a suitcase. Typical of these absurd prestige projects bugger the passengers lets have a six mile long champage bar and a load of uselessly twee over priced shops, hopefully they'll all go bust and end up boarded up.

St Spunkeras International as well as boasting about their film location friendliness provide this interactive map which not only emphasise how far the walk is does not allow you to escape onto the tube when you reach it.

Their contempt for bog standard domestic passengers is reflected in the following blurb in which they don't even get a mention

I agree with you to an extent but I think you've gone a little bit over the top in your criticism. If you look at the plans (nicked from the St Pancras thread) you'll see that if you were to do away with the double-height bit (the main bit where you walk along next to the shops at lower level) then there would be space to bring two MML platforms into the main shed, but not enough to bring in four, as are provided currently. So you'd have a rather messy arrangement with half the platforms in and half out.

Also, if the shops etc help bring revenue in to support the upkeep of the rest of the building, I don't think they are necessarily a bad thing. Also the principle of centring shops and stuff around public transport hubs is a perfectly sound one. They aren't all "uselessly twee" - they are largely the usual kind of mix of shops you'd find in a railway station - WHsmith and Boots and that kind of stuff.

And - as for walking distances; if you come out of the domestic platforms you are close to the Thameslink entrance, close to the taxi pick-up point, close to the Eurostar and once things are finished (as I understand it) you will be close to a tube entrance too. And, going out the side you will be directly opposite to the new Kings Cross concourse.

So I think the way things are laid out is all fine.

But I would agree that the new extension structure/roof is rather disappointing and it certainly feels like no-one was too interested in what was provided for the domestic travellers, compared to the main bit of the station.



By the way I see the North Kent trains will come in on the East side of the station, not the west side along with the Midlands services. Assuming that plan is still up to date.