St Pancras International Station

St Pancras Station (St Pancras International), London

St Pancras Station opened in 1868. — © Gareth Thomas; St Pancras Station opened in 1868

St Pancras (St Pancras International) is another major Victorian railway terminal built in London and is the terminus for Eurostar trains from Belgium, France and the Netherlands to London.

It lies at the junction of Euston Road and Pancras Road and is one of the busiest railway stations in the UK. The station is adjacent to the British Library and is also now a shopping and dining hub with Coal Drops Yard also nearby.

The Eurostar platform at St Pancras. — © Gareth Thomas; the Eurostar platform at St Pancras

Trains

St Pancras Station was built as the terminal of the Midland Railway (MR) before it became part of BR and now East Midlands Railway (EMR) since privatization.

There are connections north to Derby Midland Station in Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, and Sheffield Station for Sheffield and smaller towns along the way.

There also also trains from St Pancras to Luton Airport Parkway for Luton Airport and Bedford.

Trains run south from the station to Gatwick Airport and Brighton as well as Wimbledon, Sutton, and East Croydon as part of the Thameslink network. There are also trains to Cambridge, Margate, Plumstead, Ramsgate and Dover Priory.

St Pancras Station next door to King's Cross Station is architecturally quite different. — St Pancras Station next door to King's Cross Station is architecturally quite different

Tube Lines

St Pancras Station shares a tube station with King's Cross Station.

As St. Pancras is the departure point for the Eurostar services to Europe the area is one of the busiest transport hubs in London and the busiest tube station in the system.

King's Cross St. Pancras is served by the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Northern, Piccadilly, and Victoria underground lines.

Trains at St Pancras Station. — Trains at St Pancras Station

Buses

Buses that call at St Pancras and King's Cross stations include the 30, 46, 63 (N63), 73 (N73), 91 (N91), 168 (discontinued in 2023), 205 (N205), 214 and 390.

The number 30 London bus runs from the Portman Street / Selfridges stop to Hackney Wick via Baker Street Station, Euston Station, Highbury Corner and Hackney Central. The 46 runs from Paddington Station to St Bartholomew's Hospital via Swiss Cottage and Kentish Town. The 63 connects Peckham Rye and King's Cross via Blackfriars Station, Farringdon Station and Clerkenwell Road. The 73 bus runs from Tottenham Court Road to Stoke Newington. The 91 bus links Crouch End with Trafalgar Square via Caledonian Road and Russell Square. The 205 London bus runs from Paddington Station to Bow Church on the DLR. The 214 runs from Highgate to Finsbury Square via Camden Town, Angel and Old Street. The 390 bus runs from Archway to Victoria via Euston Square tube station, Tottenham Court Road and Hyde Park Corner.

Clock at St Pancras Station. — The huge clock at St Pancras Station made with metal plate, slate diamond shaped hour markers and roman numerals by Dent

History

St Pancras Station opened in 1868 and was designed by civil engineer William Henry Barlow (1812-1902). He also designed the Tay Bridge linking Dundee and Wormit after the original bridge collapsed in 1879.

The station's single-span roof was the largest such structure in the world when it was completed.

The station suffered bomb damage during World War II. By the 1960s the station had become rundown and largely redundant. British Rail (BR) sought to demolish the station but it was saved by a strident group of preservationists including Poet Laureate, John Betjeman and the World War II codebreaker, Jane Hughes Fawcett. Betjeman had earlier failed to save the original and nearby Euston Station from demolition.

Eurostar

The Eurostar Station opened in 2007 after lengthy and costly redevelopment. After services began, London Waterloo International Station ceased operation.

The station has bilingual signage in English and French.

The redeveloped station has a number of places to eat and drink as well as shop. There is good beer and fish and chips at The Betjeman Arms as well as French and Italian eateries. Searcys' Champagne Bar claims to have the longest in Europe.

St Pancras International Station
Euston Road
London
N1C 4QP
Tel: 0207 843 7688

The Meeting Place statue. — The Meeting Place bronze statue is by British artist Paul Day and was unveiled in 2007

Hotels near St Pancras Station

Here are some of the very best hotels near St Pancras and King's Cross stations: The St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London with five stars, The Standard London also five stars, and the Pullman London St Pancras. The three-star Kings Cross Inn Hotel is also close to the station.

More budget accommodation options near King's Cross and St Pancras can be found here.

As well as the nearby British Library and Coal Drops Yard, London Zoo, the British Museum, and Regent's Canal are also all within reasonable and enjoyable walking distance. It is 30 minutes or so, we estimate, to the British Museum, 44 minutes along the Regent's Park Canal to London Zoo and 40 minutes to Regent's Park. The walk south to the British Museum takes you through an interesting area of London - Bloomsbury with its gardens and churches, the university area and Russell Square.