Transport secretary John MacGregor is to confirm this week that St Pancras will be the central London terminus of the Channel Tunnel high-speed rail link, reports Antony Barnett.
British Rail’s £1.4bn plans for developing King’s Cross as London’s international gateway have been scrapped and the London Regeneration Consortium proposals for a 9m-sq ft commercial scheme have – according to Camden council – been “killed off”.
This week King’s Cross Railway Lands Group published a plan for the short-term redevelopment of the 134-acre site behind the station, including a central festival garden comprising model gardens, a play area, sports hall and an equestrian complex. There would be a permanent 4-acre core and a temporary outer green area covering 8 acres.
“This would be a good way of starting to reclaim the land and should prove attractive for developers,” said a spokesman for KCRLG.
In September, Camden produced a new planning brief for the long-term development of the site, proposing a mixed scheme with 2m sq ft of offices, as well as residential and leisure uses.
At the time of going to press, the final announcement of the high-speed route had not been made. A spokesman for Union Railways, the designer and planner of the route, said that he was also “in the dark”, but expected clarification by Thursday.
MacGregor is expected also to announce the site of the single intermediate station between Ashford and St Pancras. In the bidding are Stratford, Rainham and Dartford, but the UR spokesman said: “The Government may not be definite about which one of the intermediate stations should proceed, but leave it up to local authorities and their joint-venture partners.”
- John Laing Property Ventures, which has won the contract to build Ashford’s international passenger station, is profiled in this week’s “Close-Up”.
