Those expecting the ghosts of railways past to be in evidence at High Speed 2’s Old Oak Common station are likely to be disappointed. Barely a trace of the depots which maintained trains from the steam era to the 21st century remains, with the final Heathrow Express depot building due to be demolished imminently.
Taking shape on the site is a new station with six platforms serving HS2, four for the Elizabeth Line and another four for Great Western main line services. It is a formidable challenge in a site where access is difficult and with tight deadlines to have the HS2 station’s box completed in time for tunnels to be bored. With an estimated 800,000 cubic metres of spoil to be excavated, time is of the essence.
Since Transport Secretary Grant Shapps visited the site in June to mark the start of construction of the station box, activity at Old Oak Common has accelerated. When Modern Railways visited, there were around 420 staff on site from main contractor Balfour Beatty Vinci Systra Joint Venture and its subcontractors, with numbers due to rise rapidly as the project gets into its stride.
THINKING INSIDE THE BOX
Counterintuitively to what one might expect, construction of the HS2 station box will w…
