London's Eleven Unbuilt International Stations

[@AndreiTupolev]

0:16 That's the kind of funky typeface you just don't get on official documents any more

[@AdrianNelson1507]

It was replaced with Comic Sans shortly after 😢

[@rynabuns]

You couldn't make the typeface more 70's if you tried!

[@DaveSCameron]

Nah that seems like a gay way I say hey!

[@stevecarter8810]

The seventies: When Cooper Black was considered a conservative choice

[@francisboyle1739]

Forget the channel tunnel. I'm convinced that at least one of the nooks and crannies in this video houses a portal to another dimension.

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

Isn’t St Pancras a manifestation of Valhalla?

[@johnbuttery1171]

It is usually best to interpret the novel "Neverwhere" as a reference book rather than fiction.

[@galinneall]

I'd be very surprised if there were only one.

[@PeterGaunt]

It may well be but it may depend on your state of mind. Many, many Moons ago I lived in Belsize Park which was then Bedsit Land. On Haverstock Hill was and I'm told still is one of those weird round bunker things that got themselves built on the Tube network during The War. Rumour in the area at the time was that it was some kind of Nuclear Bunker but the Acid Heads amongst us were, at least while temporarily unsane, convinced that it was variously some kind of Time Machine, Aliens (including Flying Saucers) or a Gateway To Another Universe amongst other things.

[@DaveSCameron]

@Jack_Warnergerron the spice lar, changes everything 😂😂🏏

[@SamBrev]

I think the Isle of Dogs declaration of independence deserves a video in its own right! Having done some light reading on it, it's quite a fascinating (and highly amusing) story!

[@alistairwall179]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZqPQlItnitJjhpY&pp=ygUZaXNsZSBvZiBkb2dzIGluZGVwZW5kZW5jZQ%3D%3D

[@davepoole9520]

He's already made one... kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZqPQlItnitJjhpYsi=Pbfgo5ecI8s48bMC

[@JagoHazzard]

There’s a video on that very subject on this very channel!

[@CarolineFord1]

It would also be an international station even if it only went to London!

[@michaelwright2986]

@@JagoHazzard And a very good one, too. I'm struck by the way there was a an opposition movement, who seem to have actually acted as part of the whole drama. And I'm also glad you mentioned _Passport to Pimlico_; it's a long time since I saw it, and I don't remember the details, but my general recollection is of something delightful, and not patronising to the working class, which could happen in the English* media in those days. * Yes I mean English, deliberately excluding Welsh and Scottish.

[@lamudri]

I must say, “Bricklayers Arms International” would have had quite the ring to it.

[@jacksonmahr8915]

It's funny how 1972 Britain was a lot more optimistic and international than the 2024 version - despite the circumstances

[@highpath4776]

Build up to joining the EEC in 1973. though many right wing writers and newspapers still blustered against it.

[@laurencefraser]

@@highpath4776 There was good and sensible logic for Not joining the EEC (and later EU), though whether it was better than the reasons to join or not is a different matter. The same can't at all be said for leaving again.

[@leoroverman4541]

@@laurencefraser in fact it was reasonable to join the EEC and not the EU, but no one gave us the choice. That should not have prevented it, after all Switzerland has connections and isn't in it.

[@stickynorth]

Very true for MOST of the former British Empire... A T-rump loving, xenophobic fascist with ties to Canada's far far right is leading the Conservatives right now and have a 20% lead on Trudeau, whom I'm no fan of but considering the alternative... So it's still an issue throughout the Anglosphere, believe me...

[@robertbannocks6750]

@@laurencefraser biggest mistake in UK history.

[@spitfire1962]

I do like the fact that even with all the development in London you still see glimpses of the past hidden away and sometimes still in plain site.

[@riven4121]

I still find it funny Stratford International is called Stratford International despite not having any international services.

[@RichardFraser-y9t]

It could have if we were within Schengen

[@roderickmain9697]

I think it was the intention that it would have had services for the 2012 Olympics. As my mother used to say "The Road to hell is paved with good intentions"

[@RafaquaQuetta]

Maybe one day , I think Gen Alpha will take us back to a closer union with the EU

[@mrsimonemms]

Birmingham International welcomes newcomers to the Stations With International In The Title But No International Trains Club

[@stephenlee5929]

@@roderickmain9697 That paving often goes via Stratford, I feel. 😊😊

[@tantaf123]

I feel bad for not commenting on these videos for the past several months. but I have still been watching them, so great video once again jago!

[@29brendus]

I came out of that portal, and it was a Chunnel Portal!

[@cmw3737]

9:10 All of these proposals seem vaguely plausible but this tiny detail stood out to me as being quite a leap. A bridge across the Thames to the North London line, from Surrey Docks? Wasn't there already a tunnel in the form of the East London line? If there was a bridge where would it have connected the North London line? Are we talking somewhere on the bit toward North Woolwich quite a bit east of Surrey Docks?

[@roderickmain9697]

Somewhat ironic that Broadstreet was ruled out because the route was "too circuitous" only to have St Pancras chosen instead. I personally think its suboptimal to go to a Northern terminus to go south but I do wonder what would have become of St Pancras had it not been chosen (eventually). I suppose they could have drained the docks and dug it out to give it loads of room for new infrastructure. So might not have been a bad choice. I seem to remember that Olympia had lots of disused platforms at one time. It was a London Terminus that never was. On the other hand, if it could have been made to work (not that I'd have liked to see the exhibition space demolished), it might also have proved useful for HS2 giving the potential of through trains to the continent (and lots of discomfort to the incontinent). Somehow, I always get the feeling that when Europe is concerned, our efforts to connect and have better relationships with our neighbours have always been half-hearted. Nothing was going to work but we might bodge something together.

[@highpath4776]

Nothing wrong with the continent other than the damm foreigners. The French were bad enough but once the Balkans fell and the hoards of the Islamic Persian Empire were able to reach Dover it all got a bit out of hand.

[@RainShadow-yi3xr]

@@highpath4776 I hope this is a bit

[@electro_sykes]

I wish HS2 was designed to through run with HS1 and could have allowed for the implementation of the regional Eurostar.

[@EmyrDerfel]

We'd have to join the Shengen area for that to work.

[@ijmad]

It was in the plan, but it's one of the first things the current government cancelled when the costs began to overrun. I believe the idea was to have a chord between HS1 and HS2 that would run over the unused pair of tracks east of Camden Road thus skipping central London entirely for regional trains to Europe.

[@ijmad]

@@EmyrDerfel Not necessarily. Eurostar goes to Paris, Lille, Brussels and Amsterdam. They just all have to have their own passport control. So you'd have to have that at Birmingham/Manchester stations too, for trains that would be headed for Europe. Of course Schengen would make this much much easier.

[@siyuanhuo7301]

​@@ijmadbut then what would you do for people not going to Europe? You can say don't go through passport control but then some people going to mainland Europe would just go through the UK entrance.

[@ijmad]

@@siyuanhuo7301 trains depart from separate platforms with different security arrangements, but just run on to the same line. Already happens at St Pancras with the HS1 trains to Kent.

[@tomconneely1361]

I feel there's a kind of Tales from the Loop-style art project to be done for the London railways that never were or might have been.

[@rollinwithunclepete824]

To this American, the wealth of disused, derelict or otherwise under-utilized railroad infrastructure in and around London is just amazing. And that a great deal of it is reused, repurposed and reimagined for the greater good makes me smile.

[@colintwyning9614]

I would love to have seen the French Rail guys faces when they said, we have chosen Waterloo as the channel tunnel terminal.

[@mdhazeldine]

It is kind of ironic given that the real Waterloo is in Belgium, and the tunnel goes to both France and Belgium. It's almost like we planned it. haha

[@juliansadler6263]

@@mdhazeldine Waterloo Bridge and Station are named after the Battle of Waterloo which saw the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte the French Emperor.

[@barrieshepherd7694]

They lobbied for a name change, which made the BR team more determined to keep Waterloo.

[@roboftherock]

Did the 'Tunnel link' have to have a terminal station? Think along the lines of Zurich or Schipol Airports. The rail lines go right through. That style of station would have no need for ancillary track work. All the servicing areas could be miles away. I mean Euston's WCML services are maintained at Wembley and Overground is serviced at Willesden. Further, the route out to the service area could also be the route to the rest of the UK.

[@Saint_Dan132]

very well informed, i often go to the Mitchell library in Glasgow and look at the original blueprints for central and compare to what it is now , vastly different as you could imagine

[@martindeane9631]

I worked for a certain broadcaster in White City in the late 1970s and you've now reminded me of all the talk there was back then that there was going to be an international rail terminal over the road. Sadly of course it never happened but the railway history of the area always fascinated me with the various closed stations, the line that used to connect the Acton-Northolt line to the West London line, the Dimco buildings, the LT railway training centre, the Central Line sidings (now buried underneath Westfield) plus of course the covered walkway to the British Empire Exhibition site. All gone now of course. I think it needs a video (or have you done one!?)

[@wickiezulu]

Get the impression the White City International proposal had potential as a through station and from the Ianvisits Unbuilt London article, the suggested site likely would have not completely butterflied away Westfield White City of some form from being built thereby making it similar to Stratford International in that sense. Combined with a HS2-HS1 through link between OOC-Stratford International (as in the route in case of OOC not stop) as well as HS4Air and it would provided a trio of high-speed routes towards a Regional Eurostar network.

[@johnforrest695]

My guess/assumption is that the line to the coast they envisaged was not the High-Speed line we know today but an express line of perhaps 125mph tops, perhaps not even that. More like the first version we had from Waterloo via Tonbridge. In fact that line would have probably connected easily to a station at White City instead of Waterloo. Perhaps coming in that route was the long term plan anyway and not the stop-gap it was painted at the time. Anyone know?

[@uktrains5679]

Excellent insight into what could have been a very different international rail London terminus. Really interesting, thanks.

[@TheIronRyan]

I like to think to myself that I'll find Jago in the wild one day when going for a day out in London. 😆 We have yet to see your model railway layout as well 🤔. A fantastic video like always.

[@mikehindson-evans159]

An excellent "what-if" historical document. Much appreciated.

[@QALibrary]

7:00 The coal yard at Olympia was considered as a site for an international station or yard/service/repair centre for the trains when the channel tunnel was being built (I was delivering in the area at the time when that was happening - it greatly upset a lot of people)

[@leoroverman4541]

It was for a time considered as an evacuation site. One exercise was a carried out there in the 90's

[@kityhawk2000]

Did it upset them because of the idea of it happening or because it didn't?

[@1258-Eckhart]

There's also an International Station which HAS been built and is never used: Stratford.

[@PJWey]

Would love to see if had a similar document for Paris and if so what it said… like the while channel tunnel it would be a fascinating insight into the similarities and differences between such near neighbours 😊

[@chrissaltmarsh6777]

How fascinating. I would only have had to change once for Boulevard St Michel. Just from Gare du Nord to the metro. As it was, I had to get from Clapham Junction to Waterloo. Oh, the difficulty.

[@hellfiregrowler]

Another excellent video. Sticking on the International theme one on the Night Ferry that used to run from Victoria to Paris and Brussels would be good….

[@andrewphipps8103]

A wonderful video as always, Jago. Thank you so much!

[@rupep2424]

We spend a very long time planning - but what eventually gets built is usually (tho not always!) pretty good & useful

[@stickynorth]

I still think the best choice would have been Isle of Dogs/Canary Wharf because of what it eventually developed into. I think with the train it probably would have ended up just the same as London's = of La Defense but with better global rail links instead of a bizarre patchwork of options it now has that make it both really well linked to the city yet also still really isolated. I guess a supreme choice to set and film 28 Weeks Later there after all!

[@robertbannocks6750]

Isle of Weight more likely then we can screen bloody foreigner for weeks before letting them into blighty.

[@TheColum78]

In hindsight probably the best location would’ve been in or around Canary Wharf, with its Crossrail and jubilee line links. But St Pancras works pretty well. Another very informative video. Thanks Jago

[@Richardincancale]

9:58 Prospect of Whitby - what’s the story behind that? It’s a long way from Whitby!

[@Tevildo]

The pub is named after a collier, which used to berth next to it in the eighteenth century. Unfortunately, that only defers the question to "Why call a boat _The Prospect of Whitby_ ?", and the answer to that is lost to history.

[@AndreiTupolev]

It's London's oldest Riverside pub, dating back to 1520. I don't know how to post links, but it has its own Wikipedia page

[@Elitist20]

@@Tevildo It brought coal from Newcastle upon Tyne, which isn't Whitby but (relatively) close to it. Perhaps it came from there originally.

[@AndreiTupolev]

@@Tevildo it woukd have been called the Prospect; Whitby would have been its home port

[@hellojasonsuresh]

The connection is with James Cook, who came from Yorkshire on a boat that set sail from Whitby. He is widely associated with Whitby even though he's from nearby Middlesbrough. The boat that he came to London on from Whitby was moored near this pub and he lived and worked nearby (there's a plaque on a building nearby on The Highway marking this).

[@highpath4776]

was part of the problem a desire to build the railway to a continental loading guage (and did they model it all in HO and got confused ?)

[@Blade_Daddy]

Thank you for once again expanding my mind.

[@The_Waddler_ugh_gross]

Hi @jago, off-topic on this video I know so apols. I'm still working through all your videos so don't know if you've covered the subject of "working men's fares" in any detail. I know you've mentioned them occasionally, but would be interesting to know when they started, how a person would be eligible, who subsidised them, when did they stop being a thing, were they too popular, not popular enough, all the usual questions you answer so well!

[@davepoole9520]

I like the idea of redeveloping the Bricklayers Arms site. It was still available up to the 1990s I think and would have certainly encouraged the extension of the Fleet Line. London's Olympic bid may have been successful years earlier and the Surrey Docks, Isle of Dogs and Greenwich Peninsula would have found a different use as the Olympic park.

[@Eddyspeeder]

Heh, “this one goes to eleven”. Speaking of international lines, I wonder: have there ever been plans to connect Scotland with Northern Ireland, given that the strait near Belfast is only marginally wider than the one at Dover? Or have the cliffs and other natural features always prevented a railway line from even reaching the coast? (I assume a Wales and Ireland connection has always been out of the question.)

[@norbitonflyer5625]

The bit of Scotland nearest Northern Ireland is extremely remote, so any link across the St georges Channel would have to go a lot further to get anywhere people actually want to go. And the geology of the Channel is much more challenging. Moreover, such a link would never generate as much traffic as the one across the English Channel - the popukationj of the entire island of Ireland is less than 10% of that of Great Britain. Finally, a rail link would need some re-engineering of the railways on one side or the oithger, as they use different track gauges.

[@kbtred51]

@@norbitonflyer5625 Did not stop Boris Johnson dreaming of a bridge

[@derekevans1932]

I wonder if they could have used two London terminals for the Eurostar. Waterloo was so much easier with so many trains coming in from the South and South West even if that did mean a change at Clapham Junction. Now you have to get your luggage either on buses or the underground. Were there ever plans to have these trains depart from other points (and undertaking clearances) including calling at other stations on route to the tunnel?

[@norbitonflyer5625]

Yes tgere were - hence tghe nanmes of Strratford, International, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International stations. There were also plans to run International trains beyond London to Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester etc. (No chages to clearances needed - the original Eurostar trains were designed to run on normal UK lines with UK clearances, and indeed did so until HS1 was built.

[@brettpalfrey4665]

I still think that Victoria might have worked, if it had been rebuilt as proposed...but having used St Pancras several times for my jaunts to Paris, it works extremely well, far better than the disaster that is Gare Du Nord for Eurostar passengers! Another good 'un, Jago, keep em coming!

[@TSCappuccino]

Have you talked about the Motorail at Kensington (Olympia) before?

[@stalbanstransport]

Interesting video jago I love how I was watching your Stafford international video when you uploaded this I personally think they should rename stratford international as Westfields station

[@doublea06]

2:00 (I missed the Enviro400H Cities, King's Cross, St. Pancras, Carnary Wharf, and the bus route 507.)

[@n17hero]

These are my favourite kinds of videos on this channel. The speculative what "London might have become" sort. Imagine if the terminus had been where Canary Wharf is now? What would have happened to the rest of the area? Would a new financial district have been built but elsewhere? Might that elsewhere eventually have been the redevelopment of Paddington Basin and so on.

[@katrinabryce]

I think yes, because the station wouldn't take up that much space relatively speaking, and being next door to the Eurostar station would be an attraction if you want to set up an office there, just like the development at the back of Kings Cross.

[@birdbrain4445]

On the speculation on Broad Street or Holborn Viaduct... if for whatever reason that actually became a thing (Broad Street seems more likely), it's likely St. Pancras as a station (if not a building, at least) could very well have closed. Who can say? Great video!

[@johnathanwilko2922]

Jango! It's the ridges in the ruffles that causes the kerfuffles.

[@Jimyjames73]

Very Good Jago - Thanks for sharing 😊🚂🚂🚂

[@Gary0557]

No Westfield, what a wonderful thought ..

[@Gary0557]

@@john_something_or_other Shopping centres full of Chavs and screaming kids mate. Not good for your street cred in London if you were spotted in there.. 😂

[@defender1006]

Broad Street was also on my mind as it was in decline for time before closure, probably a more viable option than Holburn Viaduct though?

[@antonydennett5938]

Jago. Thank you for another great informative video. Thank you fot your time spent on fact finding 👍

[@Cryten0]

How much of the underground can be traveled above ground?

[@SisterSunny]

perhaps it's a little selfish of me, having only lived in the UK for a year now, but I'm glad there was no international rail terminus built in the 1970s. If we're being honest with ourselves, it would've been a complete eyesore, and arriving in London via St Pancras is always awe-inspiring by contrast

[@southcalder]

Think Birmingham New Street mixed with Brussels Midi.

[@robertbannocks6750]

@@southcalder perhaps we would have had less unwanted foreighers too.

[@michaelmiller641]

Fascinating speculation. thanks for that video, Jago

[@randomidiot24563]

jago hazzard i got a question why is the lner , avanti and gwr not considered international because they go into different continential countries in great britain like scotland and wales

[@jrail1992]

Interesting video, thanks for the upload. Why did they choose Waterloo initially & not White City?

[@anthonylloyd6094]

Hi Jago. What's the location for the shot at 10:58 please?

[@timhubbard8895]

Actually Jago, Holborn Viaduct wasn't a bad idea, same with Broad Street.

[@campsaints]

I am guessing the reason why the first cross channel rail link Eurostar was originally at Waterloo because there was more space for development. Correct?

[@kbtred51]

Space was redundant engine sidings

[@mdhazeldine]

I'm amazed that still nothing has happened with Bishopsgate. It's a massive hole in a very developed area. I know there are plans for it, but it's just amazing it's remained untouched for so long.

[@kbtred51]

Shoreditch High St station

[@mdhazeldine]

@@kbtred51 I know that station exists, but there's still a massive abandoned area just behind it that you can't see from the street. Look on Google Maps.

[@guyrixon5406]

Holborn viaduct as a 12th candidate site is fascinating, but the station was way too short for international trains; it was possibly the shortest of the main-line termini in London. To accept something Eurostar-like, the station would have to be extended most of the the way out to the site of Ludgate Hill, and then the viaduct would need widening, so much purchase of expensive land. And the bank down to Snow Hill would have disappeared in the process.

[@kbtred51]

Ludgate Hill (Snow Hill) was still earmarked for the City International station in a later scheme when still a bombsite carpark. Gave through services to the east & west coast mainlines for the regionals, sleepers via Olympia.

[@karlosh9286]

it always did amuse me that when it was eventually built, the London Terminal was a Waterloo. Someone was having a "dig" with that choice ! Yes, it's since been moved but Waterloo was the terminal for something around 11 years ! I guess it could have been worse, they could have put a stop at Waterloo, continued on to a new station at Trafalgar Square and had a new terminus at Maida Vale. I'll admit Maida Vale is a bit of a "left field" choice for a terminus, just look up how it got it's name , I'm guessing you already know Hugo ! . See, the plan is , might as well get in as many digs as possible !!!!!

[@29brendus]

HA, I worked on both the Fleet Line and the original Channel Tunnel in 1974 (no TBMs) before it was abandoned, and it all sure brings back memories. I was an 18yo digger and grafter saving for University, not Diversity. In those days all we really cared about were bacon and egg sandwiches and cash into the hand. Yep, I did eventually graduate as an Engineer, and ended up in the Transport Sector and worked for TfL on Traffic SIgnal Systems. But enough about me, London was a very different place in 1974 and in some ways a lot better than today. The eventual choice of St. Pancras and the engineering of HS1 were wonderful achievements.

[@paulketchupwitheverything767]

Thinking you are referring to "...St. Pancras and the engineering of HS1", not HS2?

[@cv990a4]

I remember the trains in 1974. Terrible experiences. My family had a reason to be in Scotland and we went by overnight train. Dirty, noisy, disgusting - the trains, the stations, everything was run down, dirty, the employees surly, it was just awful. British Rail cafes were utterly horrible places. Years later I asked my mother (she made the arrangements) why she'd subjected us to that train that when we could have taken, you know, an airplane (ultimate destination was Lerwick - we took a boat between Aberdeen and the Shetlands. That was also dirty, run down, etc.) "Oh, I thought it would be fun for you boys!" Honest to god, I hated every moment of it.

[@29brendus]

@@paulketchupwitheverything767 Correct, the fog of war!

[@29brendus]

@@cv990a4 No rose tinted spectacles for you then, but I accept your view, as it was a dirty run down system and the amount of litter on the tracks at stations was incomprehensible. There were good times too though for me such as getting pissed in the Red Lion, Archway and chasing a few birds!

[@paulsengupta971]

There's a movement to re-nationalise the train operating companies. I ponder it and think it might not be a bad idea - until I see the name of the movement - "Bring back British Rail" and I think oh dear God, no. But then the era of the HST 125 was fantastic, so much better than what went before.

[@aitchie4532]

3:40 What is that yellow TEE-shaped structure on the LHS?

[@lfewell2161]

For loading containers of rubbish onto barges. It's located next to one of the old blackwall tunnel ventilation shafts on the north bank of the Thames.

[@garethaethwy]

My vote would've gone to Kensington Olympia, where it could easily link up with Motorail and the wider BR network, facilitating North of London services. And in my fantasy world, there's be no need for customs or immigration facilities because the UK would be members of Schengen...

[@JMSBRK]

Of course this didn’t work. As planners of that time had forgotten to ask one key question which is: What would Charles Yerkes, with his infinite wisdom, do?

[@PaulJaYmes]

A fact that always makes me feel old is that Eurostar has been running from St Pancras longer than it ever ran from Waterloo....

[@SheeplessNW6]

I like how the old Motorail name lives on at 7:07

[@keith800]

If they knew then about the future docklands railway the choice may have been different , perhaps the terminal may have been built south of the river with connections into London by a Docklands type of rail connections.

[@barrieshepherd7694]

It is my recollection that quite a bit of engineering design was completed into Olympia - but a wee bit later maybe 1973/4. Maybe there was some revived hope that something would happen.

[@BM-nr2fm]

Can we have a video on the night ferry train?

[@ajs41]

1972: a great year.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Moral of the Story: You either die an industrial park or live long enough to be a ghost town

[@IndigoJo]

Broad Street was already on its last legs by the 1970s and it would have been no big deal to do away with or divert the Richmond service to accommodate Channel Tunnel trains. It would have been an ideal City terminus but in the 20th century the City was kind of empty on a Sunday; most of its businesses catered to 9-5 weekday office workers. I remember walking through the City regularly on a Sunday as a teenager in the early 90s and there was hardly anything there and nothing open. St Pancras isn't really central London either; it's a walk from the top end of Tottenham Court Road, but it's closer to the West End than Broad Street is.

[@robertbannocks6750]

Is the city ay different today. Broad street could have been an excelent terminal as West cost services could also have come there via the NLL and it would have been a better re-development that what actually happened.

[@juliansadler6263]

I have read that there will be one more public visit to the old Bishopsgate site before the inevitable office block is planted on top.

[@neville132bbk]

Well done, sir. Carry on. LeviNZ

[@billthomas8205]

Yes to Broad Street!

[@DanKeeley]

wow, lucky save for olympia!

[@richardskelton5119]

Of course the Bricklayers Arms could have been reached by an extension of the Bakerloo, but nobody had ever thought of that, oh wait a minute!

[@brianfretwell3886]

If Olympoa exhibition centre had gone would Earls Court have closed. Maybe it would have closed earlier though, to make way for some actual redevelopment rather than staying an open site for so long.

[@southcalder]

Bricklayers Arms International sounds very Trade Unionist.

[@tommyselby]

A very informative video as jago!

[@kaitlyn__L]

"You can't build mega-offices on the Isle of Dogs! That's where all the international rail links are!"

[@sr6424]

Shepherds Bush - really close to Old Oak Common. They could have built it there! What’s the point of building a station at Old Oak Common?

[@howardrsims]

Suggestion: your videos often mention goods depots but never go into detail. How about a video focusing on how a goods depot works and the trains that use them.

[@archimedesfandangostapler8031]

Westfield could still have happened because the land for the White City terminal was north of the current H&C line, and Westfield is almost entirely south. The area is still largely undeveloped, although the new(ish) Wood Lane station is more or less where it was on the 1970s plan. That aside - some of the alternatives had potential. I for one am sad that European visitors don't arrive at Bricklayers Arms International.

[@Andrewjg_89]

I still don’t know why that Stratford International is bigger than Stratford Regional station and Stratford International only has Southeastern Highspeed and Eurostar trains pass through at high speed. Whilst at Stratford it gets so busy every time and it gets so overcrowded.

[@markellis6413]

Having grown up in Croydon in the 70's, one couldn't move for all the trains across the West London Line... Not! Remember the speed limit over the bridge across the Thames in Battersea was 15 mph even after they had started running trains from Brighton to Manchester Piccadilly around 1980 using that route..

[@dwegmull]

Having redevelopment plans up in the air is how we ended up with London City airport...

[@ulicnik24]

They could bring it to the Old Oak Common Station where it could be connected to HS2.

[@AndreiTupolev]

You made a video briefly discussing the plans to build a rail terminus at the Surrey Docks back in the 1970s? You must have been an early adopter of KZbin, Jago. Is that video #1 in your back catalogue ?

[@mondoman712]

The proposed underground station between King's Cross and St Pancras is what we really should've built

[@john1703]

Is the Isle of Dogs somehow related to Pimlico, concerning the idea of seceding from he Union?

[@kbtred51]

Film came first

[@nickbarber2080]

Local urban legend states that in the early 70s,the canopy at Clapham Jct's platform 17 was cut back to its present length to accommodate the larger trains headed to the Continent via the planned Channel Tunnel....truth or fiction?

[@sbv-zs7wz]

I don't know if an urban myth but heard that Waterloo was chosen because some senior politicians wanted to remind all french arrivals of a certain historical event :)

[@dwegmull]

I've heard it the other way around: the UK government officially apologized to France for that choice!

[@lummatravel]

Winston Churchill's coffin was apparently sent from Waterloo instead of Paddington to Oxfordshire just to annoy Charles de Gaulle

[@rainyfeathers9148]

I like White City as a site, as long as the Shepherd's Bush market isn't interfered with.

[@DavidShepheard]

Holburn Viaduct International would have made a lot of sense.

[@apuldram]

Victoria Central London? 🤪. My trains go there… but increasingly, and preferably, I don’t! London Bridge (or anywhere on Thameslink) or Waterloo if I can afford it 😢. The decline of Victoria St., the new shopping mall, and that a certain King hogs much of the real estate. Then, trying to get a reasonably priced beer or meal in Belgravia…

[@highpath4776]

thought it was the Duke of Westminster coining it ?

[@apuldram]

@@highpath4776 certainly not a place for us plebs...

[@clickrick]

I think I'd be consulting with a certain Mr Yerkes to see what option he thought he could make a profit from 😁

[@highpath4776]

Watkins maybe better as he was trying to get an International Service years before Eurostar

[@clickrick]

@@highpath4776 But whom do I trust more - the one with the moustache, or the one with the sideburns? 😉

[@lassepeterson2740]

How many brick arch viaduct routes exist in London ?

[@goldenclouds75]

I always thought Charing Cross was central London not Victoria.

[@deauvilledad07]

The whole plan seemed very short sighted. It would have been far better to have had a site where trains could have continued on towards other parts of the network allowing for through trains from Paris to Glasgow or Manchester for example. Nice video though. Well done Jago 🤓

[@philwoodward5069]

Clapham Junction would have been ideal. Much better onward connections than St Pancras or any of the other options on the map.