By Alice Penwill
LONDON St Pancras station is set to double its capacity to 2,700 passengers per hour with a £300million investment.
Today, London St Pancras Highspeed and Eurostar have signed a letter of intent to work together to create more room and routes for travellers at the major station.
The aim of the combined project is for St Pancras International to become one of Europe’s busiest international rail hubs and support the demand for travel international travel.
London St Pancras Highspeed and Eurostar have agreed to collaborate through three phases.
And in April 2025, St. Pancras Highspeed unveiled plans in to invest £300million in infrastructure renewal over the next five years from April 2025 to March 2030, according to New Civil Engineer.
The first will review short term improvements within the current station layout.
This includes optimising the security and border crossing processes to deliver an uplift of 2,700 passengers per hour in the next three to four years.
Phase two will see the improvement of the international area and its connection to the main concourse.
This is expected to be complete by 2028.
The final phase will take place in the 2030s, which is set to further enhance capacity.
This might mean the change of the station layout with arrivals potentially being relocated upstairs.
The architectural firm, HawkinsBrown, has been appointed to deliver a design for the expansion.
The architecture team have been tasked with creating a new ground floor layout for the international zone to more than double the station’s current capacity.
HawkinsBrown has said that a change in the station’s design is necessary, but it will be achieved through remodelling rather than major structural changes.
Richard Thorp, Chief Operating Officer at London St Pancras Highspeed, commented: “We’re delighted to be working with Eurostar to expand capacity at St. Pancras International.”
He continued to add: “With growing passenger demand for international train travel, it is important that St. Pancras International station is future-proofed and optimised to accommodate this.
“With a shared ambition and collaborative approach, we can ensure our iconic station is ready to support this demand, and we’re looking forward to getting started on a new era of connectivity between London and Europe.”
Simon Lejeune, Chief Safety and Stations Officer at Eurostar, said that Eurostar already welcomes 45,000 customers a day.
He added that Eurostar hopes to expand its fleet from early 2030s and increase services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands.
Earlier this year, Eurostar also expressed its want to expand routes to Germany and Switzerland which will also form part of the project.
Here’s more about Eurostar’s plan to launch direct trains to two European countries with huge £1.7billion new fleet.