The magnificence of St Pancras station on Euston Road, the most romantic entrance is the arch by the red car

London St Pancras International (London)

This  guide to using magnificent St Pancras International train station explains;
(1) how to navigate the station;
(2) what to be aware of when arriving and departing by Eurostar and other train services;
(3) how to make onward connections to the city centre and airports
(4) what facilities are available at the station.

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At a Glance

Services

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Travel Information Desk
First Class Lounge
Local Tourism Information
Onward Travel

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Misc

Terminus Station
The Eurostars arrive at the upper level, but the Eurostar departure lounge is beneath the trains The Eurostars arrive at the upper level, but the Eurostar departure lounge is beneath the trains
The entrance to Eurostar departures in the lower level 'Arcade' at St Pancras Internatonal The entrance to Eurostar departures in the lower level 'Arcade' at St Pancras Internatonal
This entrance to St Pancras International on Pancras Road leads directly to Eurostar departures This entrance to St Pancras International on Pancras Road leads directly to Eurostar departures
The main Pancras Road nearest to the East Midlands, South Eastern and Thameslink trains The main Pancras Road nearest to the East Midlands, South Eastern and Thameslink trains
The curved part of the building is where the entrances to the St Pancras Hotel are located The curved part of the building is where the entrances to the St Pancras Hotel are located
14 bus routes serve St Pancras, lines 10, 59, 91 and 390 stop right by the station 14 bus routes serve St Pancras, lines 10, 59, 91 and 390 stop right by the station

An introduction to using St Pancras International:

A detail of the useful info screens that are scattered around St Pancras International A detail of the useful info screens that are scattered around St Pancras International
These info screens also show ALL of the train departures and arrivals These info screens also show ALL of the train departures and arrivals

The modern adaptation of glorious 19th century station architecture at St Pancras International, has created a building that is an awe-inspiring location to have a meal/drink and to indulge in some high end shopping.
Hence a website on which it's primary function as a place from which to catch a train isn't particularly obvious.

However, if you are taking a train from St. Pancras International it can be confusing space to navigate; particularly if you are a first time user.

What can be a big help with finding your way through the station are its interactive info guides.
At first glance they resemble the info guides you can find in large shopping malls, which you can tap to discover the location of a store etc.
These screens at St Pancras International are also store guides, but they ALSO offer a wealth of useful info to help you find your train.
They are convenient because the signage understandably struggles to cope with the complexity of the station layout.

If you’re a first time user, St Pancras International isn’t a location where you want to be catching a train against the clock.

Good to know:

Looking down on the 'Arcade' level, the entrance to Eurostar departures is to the right of the blue info screen Looking down on the 'Arcade' level, the entrance to Eurostar departures is to the right of the blue info screen
The best location to spend time waiting for a train at St Pancras is on the upper level The best location to spend time waiting for a train at St Pancras is on the upper level
The concourse for the East Midlands trains The concourse for the East Midlands trains
The Thameslink station The Thameslink station
The 'Market' passage looking towards the exit on Pancras Road where King's Cross station is across the street The 'Market' passage looking towards the exit on Pancras Road where King's Cross station is across the street
The access to the Southeastern trains in this 'Market' area by the entrance on Pancras Road, head up by escalator or elevator The access to the Southeastern trains in this 'Market' area by the entrance on Pancras Road, head up by escalator or elevator

Five things also worth knowing about St. Pancras International:

(1) St Pancras International station can be a complicated space to navigate because it is in effect six stations in one location:

  • the Eurostar trains terminal
  • the East Midland Trains terminal
  • the southeastern hi-speed trains terminal
  • the ‘Thameslink’ station
  • the Circle / Metropolitan / Hammersmith & City underground lines
  • the Victoria / Piccadilly / Northern underground lines.

Each of which has a dedicated or optimum entrance.

(2) If you're NOT taking the Eurostar and you aleady have a ticket, it’s still generally a good idea to arrive at St Pancras International a minimum of 10 mins before your train is due to depart.
It's a large space to navigate; for example making the transfer between the Picadilly Line of the Undergound and the East Midlands trains terminal, takes around 5 mins.

(3) If you are taking the Eurostar allow 10 mins to make your way to the Eurostar check-in area.
ADD this 10 mins on to Eurostar's recommended time required to check-in.

(4) If you are catching a Eurostar be aware that the station isn't solely dedicated to Eurostar trains.
The Eurostar departures area is not the the dominant feature of the building.

Depending on how you enter St Pancras, the access to Euostar departures can be out of sight.
And Eurostar arrivals is merely a set of doors which open into the main shopping arcade at the station.

(5) The trick to making the most of what St Pancras International has to offer is to arrive at the station around 90 mins before your train departs.
And if you do opt for that, head to the upper level bars and restaurants.
They're quieter, more spectacular and you can watch the Eurostar trains glide in and out of the station; what could be more wonderful!

The upper level also gives access to the bars and eateries in the stunningly restored St Pancras hotel, for the ultimate pre train journey experience!

Onward Connections by Underground:

A plus of arriving by mainline train at St Pancras International is that the station has interchanges with six Underground lines:

  1. Circle Line
  2. Hammersmith & City Line
  3. Metropolitan Line
  4. Northern Line
  5. Piccadilly Line
  6. Victoria Line

So the station has easy access to most areas of London, but if you are a first time user, these tips below will hopefully be of use.

Note that the Underground station at St Pancras International is named 'Kings Cross, St Pancras', because it also serves Kings Cross station as it is just across the street.

The Transport for London information desk is to the right of the entrance to the part of the Underground station used by the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.
There’s also relatively easy access from the area by this info desk to the Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria Lines.

by the Circle; Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines:

The access to these three lines is over to the right, in this part of the Underground under the front of the station The access to these three lines is over to the right, in this part of the Underground under the front of the station
Note that these lines share a route between Baker St and Liverpool St Note that these lines share a route between Baker St and Liverpool St

The Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines all share a route in central London so they use the same platforms/tracks.
The first train to arrive can be a Circle Line train and the second to arrive can be a Hammersmith & City line train etc.

The trains will also look the same, so watch the departure indicators on the platforms carefully.
If you will be going to Paddington look for trains heading to Hammersmith.
Though if you want a step-free route to Paddington take a southbound Thameslink station on a one-stop-hop to Farringdon station, where an elevator transfer is available to the westbound Elizabeth Line trains; all of which will call at Paddington.

Any westbound train regardless of which line will call at Baker Street (for Madame Tussauds) and any eastbound train will be calling at Farringdon, Barbican or Liverpool Street.

For the Tower Of London take the Circle Line eastbound to Tower Hill.

by the Northern Line:

The Northern Line provides a link to the Financial District of London, take southbound trains to Moorgate or Bank
For Camden and its markets, take any northbound train to Camden Town.

Southbound Northern Line trains also provide an alternative link to the Thameslink trains for accessing the London Bridge area where Borough Market and The Shard are located.
If you are heading to the market the quickest option is to take the Northern Line to London Bridge and then use the Borough High St exit at the station

by the Piccadilly and Victoria Lines:

The Piccadilly and Victoria lines connect St Pancras International to the city centre.
Southbound trains on both lines call at Green Park, the closest station to Buckingham Palace.

Southbound Piccadilly line trains also call at Covent Garden, Leicester Square (5 min walk to Trafalgar Square), Piccadilly Circus, Knightsbridge (for Harrods) and South Kensington for the museum district.

Southbound Victoria Line trains call at Oxford Circus in the heart of the city's main shopping area and at Victoria station.

There are no direct Underground trains from St Pancras International to Waterloo, but generally the least stressful connection is to take the Piccadilly Line southbound to Piccadilly Circus and transfer there to a southbound Bakerloo Line train.
It looks further on the map, but the transfers are the easiest of all the alternatives and the Bakerloo Line trains tend to be the least busy on the Underground.

The trains that are heading south from platform/track A in the ‘Thameslink’ station at St Pancras International give much better access to some parts of London than the Underground.

(1) For St Pauls take a train to City Thameslink and use the exit by the front of the trains at that station on to Ludgate Hill.

(2)  For Tate Modern and The Globe Theatre take a train to Blackfriars and then at that station, use the South Bank exits which will be by the front of the train.

(3) For Westminster take any ‘Thameslink’ train south to Blackfriars and connect there for an westbound District or Circle line train; the interchange at Blackfriars will be towards the rear of the train.
This will be quicker than taking the Circle Line direct and less frantic than taking the Victoria Line and making the transfer at Victoria station.

(4) Thameslink trains also now provide a direct link to Greenwich from St Pancras International
Take trains heading to Rainham which typically depart every 30 minutes.

To the Elizabeth Line

The southbound Thameslink trains now also connect at Farringdon with the new Elizabeth Line.
Farringdon station is a 3 minute one station hop from St Pancras and elevators and escalators provide the connection to the Elizabeth Line.
So a combination of Thameslink and Elizabeth Line trains now provides the fastest connections when travelling between St Pancras International and both Canary Wharf and The Excel Exhibition Centre.

Getting to St Pancras:

St Pancras is located on the north-eastern edge of the central London area in a place where several major roads meet, so it's a constantly busy area, with the fact that Kings Cross station is just across the street, adding yet more people and traffic to the mix.

The fact that two of London's busiest stations share a location is why the Underground station which serves them has more lines than any other.
Though if you take the Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria Lines to Kings Cross-St Pancras, you need to walk through fairly lengthy subways in order to access the mainline trains which leave from St Pancras International.
For a stress-free onward departure allow at least five minutes to make the transfer when taking the Northern and Piccadilly lines; and up that to seven minutes when taking the Victoria line.

Taking the bus

If you can spare the time, taking a bus to St Pancras International can therefore make for an easier transfer to the trains, particularly if you take routes 46; 91; 214 and 390 on routes heading north away from central London.

These four routes all arrive at stops on the same block as St Pancras International, so you won't even have to cross the street in order to enter the station.
Routes 91 and 390 use a stop in front of the station, while routes 46 and 214 arrive at a particularly convenient location between the entrance to Eurostar check-in and the main entrance on Pancras Road

Airport Connections by train from St Pancras International

To/from Heathrow

The launch of the full service on the *Elizabeth line has transformed the journey by train from St Pancras International to Heathrow Airport.
Four Elizabeth line trains per hour now call at the station which serves Terminal Two and Three, with two trains per hour continuing on to both Terminal Four and Terminal Five; the departure stations alternate.

Thameslink trains connect into these Elizabeth line trains at Farringdon station, where both lifts (elevators) and escalators are available for a step-free transfer.
The end-to-end journey time by train from St. Pancras to Heathrow will be around 50min to 1hr 5min, depending on the time between trains at Farringdon station.

To/from Gatwick:

Direct trains depart from platform A in the Thameslink station, for the time being there are USUALLY 4 x trains per hour - but the number of trains will soon be doubled.
The train journey from St Pancras International to Gatwick Airport takes around 50 mins.
Tickets will cost the same if booked last minute at the station.

If you will be heading TO St Pancras International from Gatwick don't take the Gatwick Express - instead take  trains that will be heading for Bedford, Cambridge or Peterbrough.

To/from Luton Airport.

There are frequent trains to Luton Airport Parkway station, which depart from platform B in the Thameslink station.
Target the trains heading to Bedford as they will be faster than the trains heading to Luton - though check the departure screens on the platform to confirm that your train is calling at Luton Airport Parkway.
Free shuttle buses link Luton Airport Parkway station to the airport terminals.

Tickets for any of the above train services will cost the same if booked last minute at the station.

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This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.

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