High speed rail builders London & Continental Railways (LCR) announced on 21 September that when St Pancras International opens, it will be the UK’s first mainline station to voluntarily declare itself an entirely non-smoking station.

St Pancras International is currently undergoing major renovation and modernisation in preparation for the switch of Eurostar services from Waterloo to St Pancras International in autumn 2007. High speed domestic commuter services will start using St Pancras International from 2009. During the London Olympic and Paralympic games in 2012, St Pancras International will the starting point for the high speed Olympic ‘Javelin’ service. By 2009, it is expected that as many as 50 million people will be using the station every year, making it one of the UK’s busiest transport hubs.

Mike Luddy, project director, LCR, said: “As we reach the final stages of completion of the UK’s first high speed rail project, the vision for St Pancras International is coming to life. This magnificent national landmark will become the best performing station in Europe and a destination in its own right.”

Among the facilities planned for the new station are a world class brasserie and Europe’s longest champagne bar. There will also be a top gastro pub, a casual dining restaurant together with independent boutiques, a fresh food market and a range of convenience outlets.

Luddy continued: “We know that customers and staff at the new station want to feel safe, secure and comfortable. The smoke-free policy at St Pancras International will help make the station a more desirable place to meet, work and use the wide range of facilities available. I have no doubt that St Pancras International, as the first station to offer its customers a smoke free experience will set the trend for many more to follow suit.”

In support of LCR's decision to prohibit smoking throughout St Pancras International, Ian Willmore, public affairs manager of ASH, the tobacco control pressure, said: "We are very pleased that LCR is acting to make St Pancras a smokefree station. It's a gap in the smokefree law due to come into force in Summer 2007 that some major railway stations may not yet be included. Workers and members of the public in a busy station have just as much right to be protected from secondhand smoke as anyone else. LCR at St Pancras is leading the way, and we hope very much that other stations will follow this excellent example."

Midland Mainline services are serving parts of the existing St Pancras station during the renovation programme and all public and back-office areas currently in operation will be designated as ‘smoke-free’ from November this year.