OLD OAK COMMON PROGRESS

Bound for Goole: the final former Heathrow Express Class 332 EMU vehicle leaves the Old Oak Common depot site on a low loader. While most of the vehicles in the fleet have been scrapped, three carriages have been moved to Siemens Mobility’s new manufacturing site at Goole, where they will be used to train apprentices and host schoolchildren and other visitors. Courtesy Network Rail

HS2 Ltd is gearing up for the final phase of site clearance at Old Oak Common – but major civil engineering work to build the station is already underway.

Before being earmarked for a mega HS2 interchange, Old Oak was train depot central. Much of this railway heritage has previously been cleared and the former Heathrow Express train base will soon follow.

The last Heathrow Express Class 332 left the Langley depot on a low loader lorry on 16 February, allowing the site to be handed over to Network Rail for depot decommissioning. The 14 trains have been replaced with Class 387 Electrostars operated and maintained by Great Western Railway under an agreement with Heathrow Airport.

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