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Monday 10 Dec 2007

NEW STATION WITHIN ST PANCRAS INTERNATIONAL BRINGS BETTER JOURNEYS AND EUROPEAN CONNECTIONS

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National

Passengers will benefit from improved facilities and quicker and more direct train journeys to Europe as Network Rail opens a new £70m domestic station within St Pancras International. The new station will be opened by the Secretary of State for Transport the Rt Hon Ruth Kelly MP. It is the latest improvement to transport in the area enabling First Capital Connect trains to call at St Pancras International for the first time instead of King's Cross Thameslink. The benefits include: · Improved accessibility for the large number of people travelling with luggage (the route serves Luton and Gatwick airports). · Longer and wider platforms, served by new lifts and escalators · State of the art information screens; and · Dedicated customer service staff, many of whom will speak more than one language The improvements will also enable passengers from outer London stations such as St Albans, Luton, Croydon and Brighton to connect directly with Eurostar services to Europe, and to the wider rail and London Underground network, cutting precious minutes off journey times. Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly MP, said: "This new station will improve the daily journey to work for thousands of passengers, providing extra capacity and better transport links. It means we can tackle overcrowding and deliver longer trains under the £5.5bn Thameslink modernisation scheme. "This is the latest instalment in the package of improvements for rail passengers in the area, after the recent opening of the new high speed line to the Continent. And more will follow, as we are spending £1bn to improve the tube and mainline stations at King's Cross." Iain Coucher, Network Rail Chief Executive said: "The opening of our new station is the latest piece of the jigsaw in transforming one of London's most prestigious stations. It will improve people’s journeys and enable passengers to travel more easily to and from Europe - Luton to Lille and Brighton to Brussels has never been easier. And for those not travelling quite so far, simpler connections to the London Underground will make a real difference." Moir Lockhead, FirstGroup plc Chief Executive said: "This is an exciting day for First Capital Connect's customers, many of whom have struggled with the limitations of King's Cross Thameslink station for a long time, so we are thrilled that our customers are now able to travel to and from a fully accessible, state of the art facility. I would like to thank our staff at King's Cross Thameslink for their hard work and commitment. The limitations of that station made it a challenging place to work, so thank you once again. St Pancras International also offers easy links to our services from King's Cross mainline to Cambridge, Peterborough and King’s Lynn as well as Eurostar services and benefits from a specially recruited dedicated customer service team. We look forward to welcoming our customers to this brand new station."