Preparing St Pancras station for HS1

Presenter: Mervyn Dunwoody

The October meeting began with the sad announcement by the Branch Chairman of the very recent death of the Branch Secretary, Ted Vaughan, at the comparatively young age of 76.

The subject of the meeting was preparing St Pancras station for HS1. The presentation was given by the project’s Delivery Manager, Mervyn Dunwoody, who began by giving a short historical background to the station. By the 1960s the station was very run down and only just survived closure proposals. However, the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (HS1) breathed new life into the station. Rebuilding was necessary to remover over 100 years’ worth of soot and corroded metal and extend the main train shed to accommodate the long Eurostar trains. English Heritage dictated that as far as possible the restoration should follow the original style.

The condition of parts of the original building such as the pillars in the undercroft were very poor as illustrated by Mervyn’s slides. Great care had to be taken in restoring Barlow’s arched roof to ensure that excessive loads were not placed on the structure with precautions taken including the weighing of the workers and counting them in and out. Detailed slides were shown of the work carried out to restore the roof and gable ends.

The Midland Mainline trains could not be accommodated within the main train shed with the Eurostar trains and domestic services that use HS1. They are located in an extension on the west side of the building. It was not practical for this and the northward extension of the main shed to continue the arched roof of the original building.

For those who like facts and figures, 1 million bricks were used to replace damaged originals and construct the extension.

We thank Mervyn for his informative presentation.