Hotel Chocolat. Kings Cross Station

A spectacular new western concourse will be launched today at a London railway station first built in 1852 - after an eight-year £500million restoration project.

Described by rail bosses as 'the biggest transformation in the 160-year history of King's Cross station', the restoration of the Grade 1 listed building is part of a further £2.2billion redevelopment of the once shabby King's Cross area of north London.

A vast steel and glass lattice-work roof forms the centrepiece of the rail network's 'gateway to the North', which will provide three times the space of the current station concourse.