Completion of part of a five-year programme to improve King’s Cross station will be announced by Network Rail today.
The station’s new western concourse was revealed today and is set to open to the public on Monday.
The £550m scheme delivers the biggest transformation in the 160-year history of the Grade-I listed station and marks the completion of yet another key transport upgrade for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Over a thousand tonnes of steel, one million specially made heritage bricks, five million ceramic tiles and five million metres of cabling were used in the construction.
More than 5,000 people worked on the project, providing a vital boost to the economy with 15% of the work force coming from the local area.
At an event this evening to mark the completion, Network Rail chief executive David Higgins will say:
“The new King’s Cross station is something for everyone to be proud of. But rather than focusing on the end of a project, we should see this as a symbol of what can be achieved with the right vision, partnerships and a sustained commitment to investing in our country’s infrastructure.”
And Kings Cross has now been fitted with barcode enabled Gates! So now passengers can buy tickets on their mobile phones and just show their phones to the gates to travel, so no need for queues!