London St. Pancras Highspeed and Eurostar have agreed to take “significant steps” to expand capacity at St. Pancras International, as officials also aim to start direct trains to Germany and Switzerland. A letter of intent outlines a three stage plan, starting with a review into “short term improvements within the current footprint”, including “optimising the security and border crossing processes” to deliver an uplift of 2,700 passengers per hour in the next three to four years.
Phase two entails improving the international area and its connection to the main concourse, “helping the passenger flow and customer experience”. Completion of this is expected by 2028. Finally, phase three will take place in the 2030’s, and includes a “further exploration of long-term opportunities to drive growth and further enhance capacity”. This will look at potentially relocating the arrivals flow upstairs, officials say. Architects HawkinsBrown, known for their work on Stratford International and other major projects, have been contracted to “design and deliver a reimagined ground floor layout” for the international zone in order to more than double St. Pancras’ current capacity.
St Pancras International’s international zone can currently handle around 1,800 passengers per hour, and demand for rail travel to other countries is predicted to triple at the interchange by 2040, from 11million to 35million passengers per year, The Standard reports.
It comes after Eurostar unveiled plans to launch direct services connecting the UK with Frankfurt in Germany and Geneva in Switzerland in the early 2030s.
These routes would be served by a fleet of up to 50 new trains costing approximately two billion euros (£1.7 billion).
Journey times would be about five hours between London and Frankfurt, and five hours and 20 minutes between London and Geneva.
Eurostar chief executive Gwendoline Cazenave told the PA news agency in June: “We’re seeing strong demand for train travel across Europe, with customers wanting to go further by rail than ever before and enjoy the unique experience we provide.
“Despite the challenging economic climate, Eurostar is growing and has bold ambitions for the future.
“Our new fleet will make new destinations for customers a reality – notably direct trains between London and Germany, and between London and Switzerland for the first time.
“A new golden age of international sustainable travel is here.”