Brief encounter at St Pancras

These are the first pictures of an enormous 20-tonne bronze sculpture unveiled at St Pancras International station today.

The 30ft statue of a couple in a loving clinch by artist Paul Day forms the centrepiece of the newly refurbished £800 million station.

The work, The Meeting Place, cost about £1 million and stands directly beneath the station clock at the southern end of the new Eurostar terminus. It aims to reflect the romantic nature of train travel, and may remind travellers of a scene from Brief Encounter.

The work is modelled on the sculptor and his half-French wife Catherine, 38, and was originally to be of the couple kissing. But London and Continental Railways, which commissioned it, thought the pose too risqué so the statue shows the lovers touching foreheads as they clasp.

It is a poignant meeting of a chic French woman reunited with her English lover and aims to symbolise the meeting of two cultures as it sits beneath the imposing iron archways constructed by engineer William Barlow in 1868, and the station clock.

"I wanted to create a statue that showed a meeting of minds as well as a physical connection," said Day. "The statue is quite static and I think that contrasts well with everything that goes on around it. It is far more enigmatic and emotional that a full-blown snog." Day, 40, fought off stiff competition-for the commission which called for a work as memorable as the Statue of Liberty and a meeting place for the station's 50 million annual passengers.

He began by creating small-scale clay models before constructing a full-size polystyrene copy at a studio in Chichester, West Sussex. Detailed plaster casts were sent to a foundry and turned into bronze then treated with chemicals and wax. The finished sculpture was last night wheeled into place on a lowloader truck before being hoisted into position by cranes.

Day said: "A lot of people will no doubt detest it because it is not violent or controversial but I'm sure those who do feel touched by it will outweigh them.

"It is not in an art gallery, but a sculpture for a very public place, and therefore has to be accessible for people who may not regularly experience art."

St Pancras will become Eurostar's London terminal on 14 November, when all services move from Waterloo and 20 minutes is cut off journey times. Paris will be only 2 hours 15 minutes away, and Brussels 1 hour 51 minutes.