Unnaturally excited about a Platform 20 departure

Seven years ago the resplendent refurbished Barlow train shed, part of the vast Kings Cross St Pancras transport huh began its new life as the gateway to the Continent, as Eurostar, the Channel Tunnel train operator, moved its operations across London from Waterloo. Since then the serpentine glass canopy covering platforms twenty to twenty fore at its original terminus has remained largely unused, save for the occasional theatre performance or other special event.

Recently, things began to change, as Platform 20 was given a new life as an adjunct to Platform 19, providing much needed additional capacity as during times of disruption.

And so it was, a week or so back, that I found myself stepping through a doorway unceremoniously knocked through the building's outer fabric, onto a platform which I had last walked on in 2006, when heading for Brussels. It may not be everyone's idea of excitement, but for me it livened up an otherwise unremarkable commute.

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