The Guardian: Europe's Railways: All change for Britain's grandest gateway to Europe - by Stephen Bates
With a week to go before Eurostar services start operating from St Pancras station, the Queen last night opened the newly renovated Victorian station which has restored what was once the largest enclosed space in the world to its former glory.More than 1,000 guests attended the reopening of the station, once the Cinderella of the London rail terminals, too grandiose for its services to the east Midlands, but now at last coming into its own as the terminus for Europe. When the original station was built, the cellars underneath were used to store barrels of beer from the Midlands but now the space is being opened up to boutiques. Something else the Victorians never thought necessary is the 92ft-long champagne bar for thirsty businessmen.
The renovation of the terminus completes the EURO 8.30bn British rail link to the Channel tunnel which is expected to shave 20 minutes off the 68-mile journey to Folkestone, bringing journey times to Paris down to 2 hours 15 minutes, the same time as London to Manchester. Passengers can be in Lyon, on the way to the Alps, in as little time as it takes to get to Newquay, Cornwall.
