Queen Opens Newly Refurbished Station

On Tuesday The Queen opened the newly refurbished St Pancras station .The ceremony was the culmination of 10 years of construction work costing £5.8 billion to complete what is now known as the HS1, a 68-mile high speed rail link from St Pancras International to the Channel Tunnel.

The Queen offered her "warmest congratulations" to all those involved in the renovation of St Pancras station. In a short speech to assembled guests, she said the new rail terminal, and the rail link, High Speed 1, would make a "real difference" to people's lives and bring us closer to Europe.

She said: "The remarkable re-birth of this great and gleaming station means that people across the whole of Britain, not just the South East, are suddenly quite a bit closer to Europe. From now on, Sheffield is closer to Paris, Nottingham closer to Brussels. And as we look forward to the London Olympics in 2012, it is good to know that a journey from here to the new High Speed 1 station at Stratford will take spectators a mere seven minutes. All these things will bring real differences to people's lives."