…hello to the new St Pancras International replacement.

Yesterday, Kings Cross Thameslink finally closed after 66 years of service.

If a station could look tired and forlorn – then this one managed it in spades. It even seemed to be winter at that station all year round to add to the desolate wasteland it exuded.

That said, I do have a slight fondness for it as it was often a station I changed at when heading to work in the morning. Quite how the narrow platforms managed to remain in use without Health and Safety shutting the place is quite remarkable.

Yesterday, I wandered along to take some final day photos – and typically it was raining.

Today though, the white heat of technology arrived in the form of St Pancras International station which is under the rear of the extension for the more glamorous Eurostar service.

The station has a clinical grey feel about it – which I personally quite like. The platforms are wide – very wide. They are wide by the standards of any train station frankly, but a shocking change compared to the platforms at its predecessor.

There is still some fixtures and fittings to be finished off, but the station is basically finished now. It did still have a slight smell that you get from concrete dust in a very recently finished building – doubtless someone will claim it is poisoning them.

Photos are available here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianvisits/sets/72157603417568631/