HS2
link should be scrapped was quickly taken on board by the government. He said it was the most cost-effective of the original proposals, but that its impacts on existing passenger and freight services and the local community were too harsh.
“I recommend that the government should re-consider and think about an alternative. In the short term the train paths, I believe, could be used to better effect for connections to places such as North Wales and, given the short distance involved between Euston and St Pancras, the impact on passengers of cancelling the link would be minimal,” he said.
The rest of Phase One, the HS2 chairman stated was “both necessary – and deliverable”.
Challenges transform and regenerate the local area.
“We believe there is a unique opportunity to do the same at Euston,” he said.
He suggested that the government should consider a level-deck design, which would enable access from one side of the station to the other, better connecting the station to the local area and the community.
“Let’s produce a station which connects with the local community; meets the needs of HS2 and the existing network; and makes the most of private sector investment on one of the last
great development sites in London,” said Sir David, adding that this is the time not just to restore the grandeur of the Euston arch, but something that “rivals St Pancras and Kings Cross, something to be proud of”.
Old Oak Common
However, as well as the proposed new hub at Crewe and developments at Euston, Sir David believes these projects should be backed up by further enhancing the scale of the interchange for Old Oak Common (OOC).
It has been suggested that as part of Phase One a new 14-platform ‘super interchange’ at OOC will provide “rapid” and “convenient” access to and from the West End, the City and Canary Wharf via Crossrail, and to Heathrow, the Thames Valley, the South West and Wales via the Great Western Main Line.
Sir David joked: “Not many of you, I suspect, will have heard of OOC, never mind be able to place it on the map. But, if we, collectively, make the right choices, it is destined to become not just a major interchange for the country, but also a long over-due source of regeneration.”
He said HS2 will be a catalyst for the comprehensive redevelopment at OOC, but that it cannot be the sole funding solution for regenerating a long-term community of over 20,000 homes and associated businesses to be developed over 20 to 30 years. The HS2 chairman
added that the Mayoral
Development Corporation must be properly resourced with people and funding, and given appropriate powers to see through at least 20 years of development.
HS1-HS2 Link
Sir David’s suggestion that the “imperfect compromise” that was the existing HS1-HS2
However, Sir David was also clear and frank about the challenges involved in making Phase One a reality. He stated that major obstacles include having clarity about the parliamentary process; clearing the hurdles faced at OOC; getting the Crossrail connection to the West Coast Main Line right; and making the right decisions on Euston.
He said: “The simple truth at the heart of this as any project is that there is a direct connection between certainty, time and cost. Hugely complex projects such as HS2 inevitably take time. This is not just because of the technical issues involved, but also because of the legislative process.”
Timescale
Asked at the event whether the project was at risk of being behind schedule, Sir David said: “If you look at the timeline, we were always expected to start Phase One in calendar [year] 2017, so you need Royal Assent by 2016 to start then.
“The fact that getting it might slip from 2015 to 2016 won’t delay the project. But if it gets delayed to 2017, or beyond then, it can start to Continued overleaf >
rail technology magazine Apr/May 14 | 55
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