http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7080278.stm

The opening will happen this evening (not least because Bettie is a
bit tied up giving a speech at some riverside club house during the
day).

I managed to have a quick look inside and around St P yesterday
lunchtime (whilst waiting at KX for someone who, courtesy of an inept
communications breakdown, wasn't on the train they should've been on -
grrr!).

I see now that the Midland mainline platform-level concourse and
platforms offer a pretty good view across the whole Barlow trainshed
now that the hoardings have largely come down and been replaced with
glass walls. The roof is splendid, lots of light coming through so
quite a change from the dingy St P of old.

From this position one also gets a good view across the Eurostar
platforms - yesterday occupied by a just-arrived Eurostar train and
also a CTRL-DS (aka Javelin) train, coupled to an EWS Class 60 (I
think). The CTRL-DS train was quite far up the long platforms (towards
the country end) so I couldn't see if it was top and tailed, but I did
wonder if there was the necessary trackwork in the Eurostar platforms
for a loco to run around a train and escape.

There was also quite a bit of lighting kit being set up for the grand
opening 'show' this evening - there were several lighting rigs
attached to the roof, and several more ground-level spotlights on the
platforms, plus a couple of massive screens hanging from the roof too.
Coming up the escalators to the Midland mainline concourse there were
a couple of large black drapes hanging from the ceiling. After a bit
of consideration I decided these were perhaps in place principally to
stop the light show from distracting the arriving MML drivers as hey
came into the platforms - as there was no indication that the Midland
mainline part of the station was going to close for this event.

Whether one will be able to go and attempt to hang around the Midland
mainline concourse and watch this event unfold I cannot say - I guess
that the area might be closed to those who don't hold tickets for
travel, but that part of the station would certainly appear to be open
for business as normal this evening.

Whilst the trainshed part of the station appears nearly finished, the
undercroft areas would still appear to be requiring a fair bit more
work - it is however hard to tell, given that there's no public access
to these areas. There were lots of workmen wearing hi-vis jackets
stating "Retail fit-out", so perhaps things are nearing completion.
Still plenty of other workmen around the place beavering away at this
and that though.

A couple of other points of potential interest.

One is that the Midland mainline platforms are OHLE wired. I guess
this is very old news but I hadn't realised that would be the case. Is
this provision for Thameslink trains, just in case they need to
terminate here rather than travel on through the low-level platforms
and then through central London?

The other is that the surrounding roads are now open as of Saturday
3rd November (so the sign said). As far as I could see (but I may have
got it wrong) Pancras Road is fully open for two-way traffic all the
way from Euston Road up to the Goods Way / Camley Street junction, and
Midland Road is open for one-way southbound traffic into Euston Road.
The taxi rank is now on Midland Road, and that's now the taxi drop-off
point as well (as opposed to the old location on Pancras Road).

Oh, and last thing - unless I've got this one wrong St Pancras station
appears to have it's own logo - which is neither the Eurostar logo nor
the HS1 logo - it's black and white and I couldn't really work out
what it was supposed to depict but I could only find it on street
signs around the station rather than on the station itself.

On 6 Nov, 08:57, Mizter T wrote:
One is that the Midland mainline platforms are OHLE wired. I guess
this is very old news but I hadn't realised that would be the case. Is
this provision for Thameslink trains, just in case they need to
terminate here rather than travel on through the low-level platforms
and then through central London?


Yes, FCC (as it is now) has access rights to St Pancras station,
normally only used when the tunnels are shut.

PhilD

--

Yes, FCC (as it is now) has access rights to St Pancras station,
normally only used when the tunnels are shut.


FCC may have station rights but, i'm told, FCC drivers will not be
maintaining route knowledge into St.P so in a very short time all FCC
drivers will not be able to go in there. You do have to wonder where all the
trains will go when Moorgate is closed in 2008 and where they will go in the
meantime if anything closes central london. I know its not ideal but Kentish
Town is more than likely the answer as you can use Platforms 3 and 4 to
terminate in when there is through-london running and in the event of a
total london block you can use all four platforms to terminate in. This
would be more capacity than St. P as there is only 4 platforms to share with
MML who have amazingly long turn-around times.

"Nathan" wrote in message
om...

Yes, FCC (as it is now) has access rights to St Pancras station,
normally only used when the tunnels are shut.


FCC may have station rights but, i'm told, FCC drivers will not be
maintaining route knowledge into St.P so in a very short time all FCC
drivers will not be able to go in there. You do have to wonder where all
the trains will go when Moorgate is closed in 2008...

There are very regular closures of the Thameslink route from the new year
onwards, IIRC from FCC publicity, some trains will be reversing at St
Pancras International (formerly Midland Rd).

The plan is that by the time Moorgate closes, there will be capacity
available for trains to run through to destinations in the Southeastern
area, with their trains running through to at least Kentish Town in return,
as the bay platforms at Blackfriars close at the same time. Of course
capacity is not the same as frequency, and could be achieved with fewer
longer trains, using the units no longer going to Moorgate.

Paul

Paul Scott wrote:
There are very regular closures of the Thameslink route from the new year
onwards, IIRC from FCC publicity, some trains will be reversing at St
Pancras International (formerly Midland Rd).
There was something you missed. I passed through Luton this morning and
read a FCC poster that explicitly stated that during the closures you
mentioned a limited FCC service would operate to/from platforms 1-4 at
St Pancras - i.e. the Midland Main Line high-level platforms. The only
exception is the weekend before the New Year when Carlton Road Junction
will be renewed (about bloody time too!) - FCC trains will proceed no
further south than West Hampstead Thameslink.

Nathan wrote:
Yes, FCC (as it is now) has access rights to St Pancras station,
normally only used when the tunnels are shut.


FCC may have station rights but, i'm told, FCC drivers will not be
maintaining route knowledge into St.P so in a very short time all FCC
drivers will not be able to go in there. You do have to wonder where all the
trains will go when Moorgate is closed in 2008 and where they will go in the
meantime if anything closes central london. I know its not ideal but Kentish
Town is more than likely the answer as you can use Platforms 3 and 4 to
terminate in when there is through-london running and in the event of a
total london block you can use all four platforms to terminate in. This
would be more capacity than St. P as there is only 4 platforms to share with
MML who have amazingly long turn-around times.

Will the new St.P Thameslink station have the capacity to turn trains
round to/from the north? If this is so, presumably FCC believe this
will obviate the need to use St.P Midland.

Robin

In message , at 11:46:28 on Tue, 6
Nov 2007, R.C. Payne remarked:
Will the new St.P Thameslink station have the capacity to turn trains
round to/from the north?

It would extraordinarily remiss if it didn't.

If this is so, presumably FCC believe this will obviate the need to
use St.P Midland.

Indeed so. Or to have to do it at Kentish Town.
--
Roland Perry

"R.C. Payne" wrote in message
...
Nathan wrote:
Yes, FCC (as it is now) has access rights to St Pancras station,
normally only used when the tunnels are shut.


FCC may have station rights but, i'm told, FCC drivers will not be
maintaining route knowledge into St.P so in a very short time all FCC
drivers will not be able to go in there. You do have to wonder where all
the trains will go when Moorgate is closed in 2008 and where they will go
in the meantime if anything closes central london. I know its not ideal
but Kentish Town is more than likely the answer as you can use Platforms
3 and 4 to terminate in when there is through-london running and in the
event of a total london block you can use all four platforms to terminate
in. This would be more capacity than St. P as there is only 4 platforms
to share with MML who have amazingly long turn-around times.

Will the new St.P Thameslink station have the capacity to turn trains
round to/from the north? If this is so, presumably FCC believe this will
obviate the need to use St.P Midland.


As I posted earlier, it is plain from FCC's engineering works posters that
they do indeed have the capacity to turn trains at St Pancras International
(low level platforms).

Paul

As I posted earlier, it is plain from FCC's engineering works posters that
they do indeed have the capacity to turn trains at St Pancras
International (low level platforms).

I did have a chuckle at one piece of propaganda that said there have been 16
sets of points upgraded between Kentish Town and Kings Cross. Could anyone
name them all?

AFAIAA there will be no turnback facilities at St P. International LL (no
signals and no pointwork). Given that any future work or blocks will be
south of Kings Cross Thameslink station, I can only imagine that all
turnback trains will just travel empty to KX and then use the pointwork that
was originally used for trains terminating there from the south during the
original blockade of Kings Cross. I can see a split service of trains
terminating at Kentish Town and some terminating at St. Pancras

On Tue, 6 Nov 2007 10:33:43 -0000, "Nathan" wrote:


Yes, FCC (as it is now) has access rights to St Pancras station,
normally only used when the tunnels are shut.


FCC may have station rights but, i'm told, FCC drivers will not be
maintaining route knowledge into St.P so in a very short time all FCC
drivers will not be able to go in there.

Do they have any route knowledge to maintain? As far as I know FCC
have never actually operated into the present St P MML station.

trains will go when Moorgate is closed in 2008 and where they will go in the
meantime if anything closes central london. I know its not ideal but Kentish
Town is more than likely the answer as you can use Platforms 3 and 4 to
terminate in when there is through-london running and in the event of a
total london block you can use all four platforms to terminate in. This
would be more capacity than St. P as there is only 4 platforms to share with
MML who have amazingly long turn-around times.



--
Peter Lawrence