HS2 Old Oak Common Station Project Update | October 2023

[@chrislodzinski9056]

Great job. It's a pity not everyone understands the importance of national infrastructure.

[@loco4loco]

Ye is very sad

[@mattgoodchild8215]

Yea we can keep building rail and roads houses wind farms solar farms shopping centres car parks until nothing is left but tarmac can’t wait

[@user-cu7qs8lk4u]

Well it's not national is it so they failed end off

[@trimley]

Agreed 👍

[@KingFinnch]

@@Northstander that is a very easy thing to implement in the future, it'd require less than 500m of high speed track

[@alexmckenna1171]

Great work. We just to make sure that lot in charge of the country (for the time being) don't sell off the land for the rails to the NW and NE.. Anyone thinking about building over the route should be told they may be demolished without compensation.

[@ds1868]

That's a good idea, but it won't happen. No sounds from the labour party as to what they will do. I suspect phase 2 will never happen.

[@marklong3389]

I thinks Phase 2 A will happen under Labour, but i would worried about phase 2B @@ds1868

[@infohound41]

They already are/have - and at a fraction of what they paid

[@jermainetrainallen6416]

Great to see more progress at Old Oak Common. Wasn't expecting that platform construction would be underway. That means that over the next few months, the station will really start to take shape.

[@normhanson981]

Great job , thank you.

[@MrLOFTYBOBBY]

It is looking good. I agree it is a pity that the Northern leg is getting scrapped, once again we fall behind other countries with our infrastructure .

[@Darth_Revan25]

This basically benefits no-one!

[@OnTheRailwayOfficial]

@@Darth_Revan25it benefits a lot of people. It will reduce the time it takes me to go north by hours

[@tomsixsix]

@@Darth_Revan25 Apart from the massive improvement in capacity on WCML and connecting the first and second largest cities in the UK, yeah, it benefits "no one".

[@jakehowie442]

London doesn’t need connections to anywhere…it’s by far the most connected city in the U.K. You are so out of touch with reality and probably have never been outside the M25

[@tomsixsix]

@@jakehowie442 No. You're wrong. I don't live in or even near London and I can see the benefits.

[@tom-henryjones2868]

Fantastic work! Keep at it - your work is definitely valued!

[@briansr.5219]

Excellent !

[@m.e.345]

What a great project.. I hope that UK citizens will continue this bold step into the future.

[@DIEMLtdTV]

I just can’t wait until I get off my train from Liverpool and have to queue to get on the Elizabeth Line to get into central London. Oh how much will I miss Avanti West Coast into Euston.

[@shaunwest3612]

Amazing project and engineering.

[@HYUKLDER1]

Birmingham people can't wait to travel to the semi-industrial area of north west greater London that is Old Oak Common.

[@chrisjw8789]

EXACTLY, they will just drive a car.

[@eltonlovell9898]

@@chrisjw8789 Or no bother going..who wants to go to London any more, it's not the 1980's

[@denniswoodhouse3351]

Where is the interchange with west London line on southern ?

[@DouglasButler-t7r]

What about the links to North London Overground and Clapham Junction? Eliz Line cannot possibly cope with all the HS2 traffic from Birmingham

[@Guesswhokk]

Connect to Euston or not? Is it true the Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) gonna get buried or not?

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

It is going to Euston and I dought if the TBM's will be buried as they are being used at other locations on HS2

[@TrevorWilliams-fq8mg]

The TBM auger head is usually dismantled and turned sideways and driven into the side of the tunnel wall as they cannot be retrieved.

[@samletcher8960]

love the work from the cameraman with the 'eat da rich' graffiti in the background at the start

[@williambuckland7996]

One of the great graffiti. See it every day, twice.

[@RWL2012]

"high-speed rail services to the Midlands, Scotland and the North"... do you not know what's happened to your own project?

[@OnTheRailwayOfficial]

The trains will still go to scotland

[@christopherwatson9529]

When do the "sparks" start on site, who do you send your CV to?

[@TrevorWilliams-fq8mg]

Several years away. Contact Skanska or Costain. They are the joint venture Contractor for the southern section. Or Sir Robert McAlpine , based in Hemel Hempstead who are one of the joint venture Contractors building the Colne Valley Viaduct and surrounding works. Or Kier who are one of the joint venture Contractors in the Midlands. These are all Main Contractors, but I doubt whether any of them have yet to place a sub contract with an M snd E Contractor. Crown House Engineering and Balfour Beatty Engineering Services must be 2 front runners for M and E works.

[@HuggyBob62]

I hope the line to Euston does get the necessary funding, otherwise the whole raison d'etre for HS2 is lost. Sure, there will be connections between Old Oak Common and Central London, but you still have to wait for a connecting train, losing valuable minutes on your "express" journey. And then what is the advantage of HS2?

[@graemecatty9921]

All that work (and enormous cost) to construct a railway line from London to Birmingham.

[@PootisHasBeenEngaged]

I know, they did the hard bit which is getting to Birmingham… and that’s it? You get 1 route. What about Manchester and Leeds? Oh wait..

[@Darth_Revan25]

It's an absolute travesty. We're a laughing stock to so many countries worldwide.

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

@@PootisHasBeenEngaged No it isn't read my report at the top, HS2 trains will get to Manchester by connecting to the Existing WCML at Lichfield just North of Birmingham

[@BobBrown.]

Shame Rishi cancelled the northern leg of HS2. UK is suffering from underinvestment and it seems that Rishi is continuing this trend

[@timothyeaton8539]

It is worth thinking what People of the Future will look back at what is eventually built at Old Oak Common in the 2020's. What is currently shaping up is looking quite promising. It should be a small additional expense to the Public's Infrastructure Budget to ensure Connections in the North recieve a similarly impressive Crewe Interchange to Optimise HS2's overall viability. It is almost worth considering the Cheap Bribes necessary to ensure that the Connection to Crewe gets built, as it does not have the expensive Tunnelling of Phase 1, with London Prices of Compensation for Dispossessed Peasants for Britons unfortunate to live outside of London. People of the Future are unlikely to have the same affection for the Tunnel under Stonehenge that facilitates the Obscuration of the Londoner's View of the Wonder of Nation's World Heritage Site or yet another Route to avoid Barnsley.

[@aw34565]

Given HS2 Euston station is probability not happening, might as well use the tunneling machines at OOC to build a simple reversing loop so OOC becomes a through rather than a terminus station. This will use platform capacity more efficiently and allow more trains to run on HS2.

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

Hs2 trains will terminate at London Euston and OOC is a through station with no capacity to store trains between duties

[@aw34565]

@@peterwilliamallen1063 London Euston HS2 station may well never be built. The current plans rely on finding private investors willing to invest in a project with a history of poor cost control. The beauty of the OOC reversing loop scheme is that trains only have to be turned and serviced at cheaper locations such as Birmingham. Trains travel down HS2 to London, zip around the reversing loop and return back up HS2, minimizing the time and expensive track space they take up in the capital.

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

@@aw34565 But didn't you know that the passengers have to jump on a hypo loop to do the circuit around OOC, first there would be no room for your so called return loop and then the OOC station is only designed as a through station with no storage space for terminating trains and yes Euston will be built, you listen to to many Chinese whispers from the local London rag news papers. Oh by the way Birmingam is no cheap location, to begin with Birmingham is the HQ of HS2 ltd and HQ of the HS2 operator Avanti West Coast trains, Birmingham Curzon Street Station will be the largest station on the HS2 line in Birmingham City Center and the main HS2 train servicing and stabling works ill be on a vast site next to the HS2 line in Birmingham at Washwood Heath, so how does that make Birmingham a cheaper location

[@johnturner4400]

Great work on the Aston to Acton express!

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

Sorry but HS2 goes no where near Aston, it runs through Saltley, Washwood Heath and under Bromford areas of Birmingham and it terminates at Birmingham Curzon Street Station in the heart of Birmingham City Center.

[@gavinsadventuresinterests.]

Thanks for the update. Just wanted to ask if London Euston HS2 Station is still going to be built, and if so when is it scheduled to open to the public after construction work & testing is fully completed. Old Oak Common HS2 Station looks like it is going to be massive when it's eventually completed. And finally i wonder how the Chiltern Hills tunnelling progress is getting on in Buckinghamshire.

[@gustavmeyrink_2.0]

It will probably not go to Euston. That effectively means that HS2 will ultimately increase the travel time from Birmingham to central London by about 20 minutes. Currently it takes 1hour 22minutes to get from B'ham New Street to London Euston. HS2 will take 1hour from B'ham to Old Oak Common and the travel from OOC to Euston takes 40minute including a 1.5m walk or an extra £60 and 12 minutes in a taxi. Personally I don't really care because whenever I need to go to London I take Chiltern Rail from B'ham Moor Street to Marylebone. Takes just under 2 hours and is half the price of a New Street - Euston ticket.

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

@@gustavmeyrink_2.0 Yes it is going to Euston.

[@marksmith334]

Never going to happen

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

@@marksmith334 Try doing some research, HS2 is going to Euston full stop, only in your brain it won't happen

[@face_thereality]

The prime minister has said it'd go to Euston, if I remember correctly. Feel free to correct me.

[@TonyAbbeyFETraining]

Excellent.

[@DouglasButler-t7r]

Are all HS2 trains really going to be 400m in length? They can't be that long if going on beyond Birmingham on conventional tracks.

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

It is not conventional tracks that may restrict the lenghth of HS2 trins, it isif it stops a other stations.

[@StephenWalker42]

It's an amazing piece of infrastructure that will Improve transport links for many years to come.

[@ds1868]

It would be if the line from OOC to Euston is guaranteed, which it isn't. With phase 2 cancelled its even worse.

[@Darth_Revan25]

Amazing, sure. But essentially fucking useless as a whole. Birmingham to London shuttle. The point of it was to incorporate many cities in England with London. Disappointed is doesn't benefit Scotland or Wales, but we're constantly bumped by the UK Government with pretty much everything. Wanks.

[@c1p1moore]

According to Mr Rishi, I thought the Euston section was cancelled? 🤔

[@loco4loco]

Not the old oak party I believe

[@c1p1moore]

@@loco4loco I thought Euston is mentioned that's why I commented

[@loco4loco]

@@c1p1moore i don’t know but I think is separate

[@johnturner4400]

Yes and no. Euston station is going to be completed but they have to find the money themselves! You couldn’t make it up!

[@simonroyle2806]

He did say they are placing the TMB ready for the future link to Euston so it leaves that part unconfirmed. HS2 have been stripped of that deliverable.

[@PetertheRock.]

I don't understand. Are we going ahead with the link to St Pancreas? And if so, does Old Oak Common need to be so big?

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

Why does HS2 need a link to St Pancras !!!

[@aw34565]

Isn't it cheaper to repurpose the old Eurostar platforms at Waterloo than building the proposed HS2 station at Euston (which may prove to be too costly anyways)? The West London Line goes from OOC to Clapham which in turn is only a short distance from London Waterloo which would give HS2 it's central London terminus and great connectivity to the south of England.

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

So how would this be of any use to a line that will be serving Birmingham and the North

[@aw34565]

@@peterwilliamallen1063 The critics of HS2 point to the line not having a terminus in central London. Repurposing the Eurostar platforms at Waterloo would give HS2 a central London terminus that avoids the eye wateringly high cost of the HS2 station at Euston.

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

@@aw34565 So why would a railway line the basically follows the WCML North from London require to go into London Waterloo Station which serves the South Coast of England, It would be an eye watering cost of running these trains across London for no reason

[@BrightonCraig]

The only sad thing that is certain is the Old Oak Common to Birmingham Shuttle

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

Sorry to disappoint you but HS2 will terminate at London Euston, and as of the line North of Birmingham, the short section from the Water Orton Triangular Junction just out side of Birmingham to Lichfield is a part of phase 1 of HS2 and is being built to Lichfield where the HS2 line will connect onto the existing WCML and take trains to Manchester and the North, it is only a specific hi speed line from Lichfield to Manchester that has been cancelled.

[@marksmith334]

Wow a quick service between a disconnected part of Birmingham to the outskirts of London ffs

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

@@marksmith334 So you no every thing do you, sorry to disappoint you but the Birmingham Terminus is not a disconnected part of Birmingham, in fact Birmingham c=Curzon Street Station will be the biggest station on HS2 and it's main entrance will be on Moor Street Queensway in the heart of Birmingham City Center next to Moor Street station, the Bull Ring and Primark. It is only being called Curzon Street Station as a part of the station is on the site of the original Curzon Street Station, as of London, HS2 will terminate at Euston.

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

Reading these articles every one is thinking that HS2 will only run between Birmingham Curzon Street and London Old Oak Common, the problem is the government did not give out the correct information and every one has misinterpreted it wrong with Chinese whisper's coming into play and stating North of Birmingham is incorrect, First yes the High Speed line to Manchester has been cancelled but only from Staffordshire North to Manchester. The diamond shaped elevated junction at Water Orton just out side Birmingham is being constructed that will allow trains to travel from Birmingham to London or Manchester and trains from London Euston direct to Manchester is being constructed as is the HS2 line from Water Orton to Lichfield Staffordshire this being a part of Phase 1 of HS2, at Lichfield instead of the proposed high speed line Phas2 being constructed HS2 trains will now join the existing WCML to Crew, Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland here, also Euston is being built.

[@Guesswhokk]

Trains go straight, didn't know they can do u-turns.

[@tomchitling]

He's bragging about all the money overspent in London, that now won't be spent in Crew and Manchester. Where is the value for money in a station in the London Suburbs?

[@jameshoward8609]

Glad I ran across this video I have been watching videos from DJ Audits and DJE Media showing the current work going on but why do you guys harass them so much for filming the site?

[@dgattenb]

such a shame , it could of been awsome !

[@_starfiend]

Could HAVE been

[@captainbuggernut9565]

When do you expect it to arrive in Manchester?😂

[@daranphilipson1025]

I’m not convinced the northern section won’t happen.

[@brandywell44]

All this new rail construction, wouldn't it be a good time to widen the standard rail gauge at least on HS2 as a start?

[@loco4loco]

Well the plan for HS2 is for trains form the west coast mainline to use it so widening the gauge would involve relaying hundreds of miles of tracks which wouldn’t be cheep or easy and would require the closure of one of the 2 mainlines to Scotland in sections for weeks or months on end so is not just as easy to regauge it if it was just a Isolated railway then yeah it would be possible but still is probably long past the point where they can widen it

[@TravelByRail]

You mean loading gauge? If not, why would you want to widen the track gauge?

[@loco4loco]

@@TravelByRailwell track gauge/loading gauge can lead to larger trains I think I know what they mean in japan the high speed trains are wider then the normal trains and thus have more capacity

[@1chish]

HS2 is being built to the larger GC loading gauge but the first trains on it will be legacy gauge compatible so the track itself will be as now. The current rail system tracks will never be made larger but the loading gauge for freight is being enlarged.

[@gerwin030]

@@loco4locoThats because normal trains in Japan run on narrow gauge. Shinkansen uses normal gauge.

[@anonymousinternetuser7519]

Feel sorry for that bloke (this Huw Edwards not the other Huw Edwards!)

[@esmeephillips5888]

The PA system on the first train from Curzon St will play HS2's official song: Talking Heads' "We're On A Road to Nowhere."

[@richiesquest3283]

The faliure of the government to complete HS2 will be regarded in the future as a major mistake.

[@jakehowie442]

A major mistake that is a massive understatement. This decision may destroy and divide the Tory party into war. We can only hope to never see a Tory government again. The Tory governments have destroyed once Great Britain, it is now mostly a sewer compared to what it was. A whole range of issues and HS2 has topped it all off

[@SLATEX1]

Unfortunate name of the Project Client Director 🙈

[@aw34565]

Why is the station being built 16m underground? Building it on the surface would be cheaper. Is this part of the gold-plating problem that has bedeviled HS2 to the point where it is no longer affordable?

[@simoncroft9792]

Hint HS2 trains arrive at the station in tunnels and connect to Euston in tunnels. Surface would mean demolishing a great strip of buildings and roads at even more cost.

[@peterrobinson6872]

Only the HS2 platforms will be underground. There will be another 8 platforms for the lines on the surface. Once it is finished it will be obvious there isn't room for all 14 platforms on the surface. The primary purpose of OOC station is to provide interconnectability between lines. Thousands of people per hour will change trains at OOC.

[@aw34565]

@@simoncroft9792 So once the decision was made to build a tunnel out of London instead of the original plan to use the surface Acton-Northolt line the OOC station had to go underground? Costly decisions compounding each other?.

[@romansanders]

Great!

[@martinwilby8942]

why have the police not investigated this company

[@SteveAndAlexBuild]

The most transformative transport regeneration project in the south of England 🙄

[@aw34565]

South of England is south of the Thames where HS2 is of little value to our region. The Southampton/Portsmouth metro area is the largest population centre in the UK which the original plan for HS2 left out.

[@jonnysegway7866]

We don't need a Director for this project

[@tommcmanamon8327]

32 miles of tunnels and vanity bridges are the reason why HS2 is so over budget. HS2 is half a job. The 20 million in the North have been ignored again.

[@SoloSi2024]

Terminating in a town with a population of 9175? The abject failure of Brexit, HS2 snd The Tories.

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

What Town is HS2 terminating in with a population of 9175, if you are referring to Birmingham, Birmingham is not a Town it is the second largest City in the UK with a population of over 1.5 million Citizens

[@SamLyndonShow]

Ah. Imagine being called Huw Edwards. Sorry bro

[@mitsuyamaeda-railfan]

If Network Rail were to become what is known in Japan as the third sector and could support Japan's ODA, I think it would be easier for Japan and the UK to work together to take care of satellite countries. [Notes] First sector: Public enterprises managed by the national and local governments. Second sector: Private enterprises run by private operators. Third sector: A corporation established with joint investment from the "first sector" and "second sector."

[@JJFLUNARMAN]

Glad to know Huston Station connection is back on track. For once common sense has prevailed by the leading politicians. Shame the northern leg has been scrapped, it defeats the purpose of having a high speed line altogether.

[@ds1868]

EUSTON. And it's not guaranteed.

[@JJFLUNARMAN]

@@ds1868 that would be a calamitous decision if it were the case.

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

@@ds1868 Oh yes it is.

[@davidhall7744]

The railway to nowhere……………

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

How do you come to that conclusion, eventually when OOC is near complete they will tunnel through to Euston and build the station, there is no alternative as OOC is not being built as a terminal station, going North from London the HS2 line will serve both Birmingham Airport at Birmingham Interchange station and Central Birmingham at Birmingham Curzon Street Station, from Birmingham Interchange Station trains for Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland will carry on on the HS2 line as far as Handsacre in Staffordshire where a junction with the WCML will allow these trains to join the WCML and reach Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland

[@Darth_Revan25]

"Connectivity services to the north, east, south and west." Absolute horse shit 😂 It's from Birmingham to London. That isn't "north" north any more. Whether this is an older video pre-Rishi conference announcement.

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

And Manchester and the North, do a bit of research

[@njp9554]

Shame my area in north east we don't have this 😢

[@chrisjw8789]

Instead of a mainline connection to Euston? It is rather pointless, especially as it doesn't connect to a Birmingham mainline station either. Did France. Italy, Germany or Spain make these cockups? NO!

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

It will terminate at a massive terminal station in Central Birmingham to be named Birmingham Curzon Street, these HS2 trains will not fit into Birmingham New Street Station, hence the construction of HS2 and Birmingham Curzon Street Station. I suggest you do a bit of research before claiming silly ideas, this information has been available for at least 10 year now

[@henrypeterson8613]

Can the public living round the OOC station site be told asap the revised passenger projections for a HS2 Birmingham to Old Oak shuttle? And on what measures this station is claimed to be "the the most transformative transport regeneration project in the UK"? No direct connections to London's Overground/Underground systems other than Elizabeth Line platforms. What is going to be 'transformative' about being the 42nd Elizabeth Line station, delivered many years after others? No road access at the eastern end of OOC station, for buses cars and taxis. A single road entrance/exit at Old Oak Common Lane vulnerable to being blocked in the event of a rail crash, fire, or terrorist incident. HS2 have posted this video on their website, under a banner reading "this website has not yet been updated to reflect the decisions announced by the Prime Minister on Wednesday 4 October. Any enquiries should be directed to the Department for Transport". This is now over three weeks ago. Sums it all up.

[@aw34565]

I do not believe for one minute that there will not be a new railway line connecting the northern end of HS2 to Northern Power House Rail at some point. HS2 cancelation gives the rail industry a chance for a reset, to escape the wasteful HS2 Ltd and choose a cheaper route. There has been plenty of coverage showing how Spain and France get railway lines built faster and cheaper than HS2. Now to get the crayons out, Handsacre Junction is only 75km to Manchester Airport railway station by the shortest route which is to the East of Stoke-on-Trent. So build the new line to make junction with Northern Power House Rail there. The distance is fairly short, so the line speed can be much lower than 360kmh of HS2. Cut down the Nimby factor by giving the area a stake-holding in the line by building a Stoke-on-Trent parkway station. Then build it quickly without gold plating it. All of this will keep the costs down with little loss of utility compared to the old plan for HS2. I know this scheme would leave Crewe off the line, but pushing a new line through the complexity of the classic railway in Crewe looked to be as expensive as it would have been disruptive.

[@simoncroft9792]

You need to make more , longer videos 15 minutes a month total is paltry. You should bypass the luddites in the MSM with a much larger PR campaign, your existing one must be 0.000001% of the budget.

[@RogerBates-r8l]

No doubt you will delete this comment but the whole thing was a waste of time and money from the start and should have been cancelled years ago. What no one has ever explained is how saving 20-30 minutes on the Birmingham leg will make any difference to the economy or anything else and the same thing goes for the already cancelled sections. If extra capacity was needed it would have been much easier and less expensive to add additional tracks to the existing West Coast Main line. All HS2 will do is to allow those in the south east to gain access to cheaper houses in the Warwickshire countryside. At great cost to the country and enormous cost to the environment. Just look at the utter destruction and mess in the area of construction south east of Birmingham.

[@bernardfender5147]

HS2's entire raison d'etre is gone.

[@vinniesuperstar8923]

I'd love a job like this guy; getting paid wheelbarrows full of cash and contributing absolutely nothing on a daily basis. No wonder it's costing so much!

[@Nick-ye5kk]

How many millionaires has this project created, using tax payers money.

[@mattgoodchild8215]

Hs2 is an utter joke

[@Darth_Revan25]

I was all for it for a few years, totally excited me. But honestly after the constant scrapping of the various connections, it's just a total embarrassment. The EU is laughing at us. China. Japan. The UK government can't even keep promises to benefit millions over the course of decades. Honestly have no clue why it's costing so much as opposed to European high speed rail. Ridiculous!

[@aw34565]

Blame weak project management and poor ministerial oversight though, not the folk building the thing.

[@Rob-zv1oz]

Totally corrupt project

[@jimsouthlondon7061]

Gay Pride Month Woke flag on your videos didn’t save the Easter and Northern leg to Manchester and Leeds did it ? .Never mind keep digging keep going

[@ds1868]

Keep digging and going to nowhere.

[@RWL2012]

1) it's pride, not "gay pride". Gay is just the G in LGBTQIA+. 2) the flag isn't "woke".

[@jimsouthlondon7061]

Spending public money on diversity coordinators instead of buying concrete .

[@JohnSmith-xl8cb]

Who the hell wants to pay £500 a ticket to go to Old Oak Common 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@1chish]

No one. But then the fares won't be £500. Dear Lord save us from the social media clowns....

[@JohnSmith-xl8cb]

It’s 350 on avanti 😂😂

[@aw34565]

@@JohnSmith-xl8cb That depends if you want to travel on peak or off peak. There are bargains available if if you can be flexible in your travel time.

[@1chish]

@@JohnSmith-xl8cb So if its £350 on Avanti why would it be £500 when the service will be run by Avanti? Funfact: The 08:49 from Euston to Manchester is shown as £67.00 (National Rail website) As I said: "social media clowns...."