Dover's cruise ship business is being reanimated in the aftermath of the 1996 conversion of the old victorian train station (located on the Western Docks) into a new cruise-ship terminal. In 1907, this train station was built as a connecting point for rail freight bound for the Continent. It served kings and queens and was the first English train station to be encountered by many foreign heads of state. It was also a stop-over for 1,250,000 wounded in the First World War as well as for 300,000 allied soldiers that were evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940.
As flying became more popular after the war, the demand for freight train services fell, and the end came as the canal tunnel was opened: the station was closed in 1994. The Dover Harbour Board became the owner once again of a useless structure protected by historical monument legislation. In the last analysis however, the old station fit into plans to reactivate the cruise ship business. Despite a modest budget, this superfluous eye-sore was transformed into an exclusive port of call for several cruise-ship lines.
Because of historical monument protection, substantial structural or optical changes to the building with its filigree iron girders was not possible. However, the wooden floor of the middle story, which serves as a lounge for passenger arrivals and departures, was replaced with a MULTIBETON floor heating system. A heating capacity amounting to 127.5 kW is available for the 1700 m² waiting room. Within these historic walls, up to 450 passengers can be accommodated in a room temperature of 20 °C while waiting for their cruise to begin.
