The developers of the new HS2 rail link have said they are committed to Euston as its London terminus after new mayor Sadiq Khan suggested a temporary alternative.
An artist's impression of HS2 at Euston
On his first radio phone-in as mayor, Mr Khan said HS2 was ‘a wonderful idea’, but he added: ‘I’ve got concerns whether Euston is the right station for the London part of HS2. The disruption during the building works will cause huge inconvenience – the numbers of homes being destroyed during construction works.’
‘One of the things I’m looking into is whether we should look at Old Oak Common as a station for HS2 to go to. You’d have fast links with Heathrow, fast links to Crossrail and also far less disruption.’
Mr Khan made it clear that he was only suggesting Old Oak Common as a solution until the issues over Euston were dealt with. He said he would speak to the people behind HS2 and invited listeners to ‘watch this space’.
In a statement, Government-owned HS2 Ltd said: ‘We look forward to meeting the mayor to discuss HS2. We are committed to Euston as the London terminus for HS2. The majority of passengers travelling to London on HS2 will want to travel to the centre of the capital.
‘Crossrail would not have the capacity to cope with additional demand from terminating HS2 services at Old Oak Common.’
Earlier this month campaigners against the project criticised HS2 Ltd for planning disruptive works before parliamentary approval for the scheme. Although some readers were at pains to point out to Transport-Network on Twitter they believed this work was covered by the HS2 paving Bill.
