In London, the reconstructed St. Pancras station is opening

London - The gates of the reconstructed St. Pancras railway station will open to the public for the first time on Wednesday in London, from where the new high-speed Eurostar trains will depart to European capitals. The transformation of the originally Victorian station in the center of the British capital lasted 11 years and cost £800 million (over 30 billion crowns). The journey from London to Paris, for example, will be 20 minutes shorter due to the associated modernization of the railway corridor.
    High-speed Eurostar trains, which travel from Britain through the tunnel under the English Channel to Europe, have until now departed from Waterloo station. The reconstructed St. Pancras station, built in 1868, was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II last week, but the first passengers will only step onto the platforms on Wednesday.
    In addition to the terminal, a new feature for them will be that travel to nearby European capitals, such as Paris or Brussels, will be significantly faster. The new British High Speed 1 line, which is approximately 109 kilometers long and runs from London to the tunnel under the English Channel, allows high-speed trains to travel at a maximum speed of over 300 kilometers per hour even across British territory. Until now, these trains had to take local train transport into account, so they traveled more slowly. The journey from London to Paris will take two hours and 15 minutes.
    The station, with its characteristic curved glass roof resting on iron columns above the tracks, was designed by Victorian engineer William Barlow. The reconstruction was initially proposed by famous British architect Norman Foster, but later another architect, Alastair Lansley, took over the baton.
    The station, which also has stops for several metro lines, is set to become one of the transport hubs for the Olympics, which will be held in the British capital in 2012.
    Eurostar first carried passengers in 1994, following the long-delayed opening of the tunnel under the English Channel. Last year, this operator transported nearly eight million passengers.