Emotional journeys

The relaunch of St Pancras as London’s rail gateway to Europe has put this once sadly neglected station back on the map. It has also shown how new importance is being put on the experience and the emotion of travel.

Whether you like the soaring gothic architecture of the place (I personally prefer the simplicity of Cubitt’s Kings Cross) its presence has always seemed at odds with the area and with the rail links it served. But when built, St Pancras Station and the adjoining Midland Grand Hotel made a bold statement – that the Midland Railway was the grandest way to travel. For people arriving in the capital it was a display of opulence, a signal that London was a thriving, wealthy city. Not surprisingly it was soon dubbed “the cathedral of the railways”.

St Pancras’ gradual decline mirrored the decline of the railways that it was built to serve. As passenger services were withdrawn and the hotel closed, it became a white elephant and came close to demolition in the 1960s. For many years, it, like many other railway stations, became functional – simply a way of getting from one place to another. The focus was on getting people on and off their trains as effectively as possible. For a while it looked like it would stay that way. But the prospect of the new channel tunnel rail link breathed life back into the station.

The vision of those who saw what St Pancras could offer should be applauded. They understood that this cathedral could once again make a bold statement about London and its place in the world. They saw that the grandeur of the station would add value to those companies associated with it. And they saw that St Pancras could become an essential part of the journey, a destination in its own right.

Some £800m was invested in the transformation. The original splendour was restored, with new additions sympathetically integrated. Shops, markets and bars were added, as well as platforms for international and domestic services. The publicity around the transformation – including advertising and even a TV series - got people talking.

If you’ve not been there you should - not just to marvel at George Gilbert Scott’s gothic details and William Barlow’s audacious engineering, but also to see how emotion is once again seen as a pivotal part of the experience of travel.

21 November 2007, posted by Mark Radda