Old Oak Common (OOC) is a railway station under construction on the site of the Old Oak Common traction maintenance depot to the west of London in Old Oak Common, approximately south of Willesden Junction station. When built, it is expected to be one of the largest rail hubs in London, at about in length and below surface level.
The new station is part of the High Speed 2 line from London to Birmingham, covered by the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act 2017. This hybrid bill conferred powers to construct and maintain phase 1, including intermediate stations. The surrounding area, including possible above-station development, is controlled by the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation set up in April 2015.
The station will provide a major transport interchange with a number of other main line and commuter rail services, including the Elizabeth line and other services on the Great Western Main Line. The High Speed 2 line will be below ground level at the Old Oak Common site, with the parallel Great Western Main Line tracks on the surface to the south.
Site and design
The site of the Old Oak Common interchange station is to the north of Wormwood Scrubs and the south of Willesden Junction, alongside the existing Great Western Main Line. The site formerly contained the EWS train maintenance site to the north, which was converted into a construction equipment marshalling area for the Crossrail project. Also on the site are the Elizabeth line's Old Oak Common Traction Maintenance Depot and the Great Western Railway North Pole depot for Intercity Express Programme trains.
The new High Speed 2 station at Old Oak Common is planned to act as a catalyst for the regeneration of this neglected part of West London, acting as a gateway to the development of a new neighbourhood adjacent to the site, creating tens of thousands of new homes, and integrated into the local area through urban design that maximises green space and the station's connection with local bus, cycling and walking routes.
The "super-hub" station will have 14 platforms. There will be six high-speed platforms, built underground, which will connect with eight conventional rail platforms at ground level serving the Great Western Main Line towards the West Country and Wales, Heathrow Express, as well as integrating the east–west Elizabeth line services. It will have 44 escalators and 52 lifts, and will have a naturally-lit concourse to create a pleasing passenger experience while reducing energy consumption. A atrium roof, inspired by the site's industrial heritage, will link the two halves of the station, and carry solar panels. The escalators linking the concourse to the platforms approximately 44ft.(13.5 m) below will be the longest on the HS2 network. It is estimated that the station will serve 250,000 passengers per day and will ultimately connect with eight of the UK's largest cities.
Construction
The delivery of OOC is a joint venture between Balfour Beatty, Taylor Woodrow Construction and SYSTRA, which was awarded in September 2019.
The station received renewed Government backing in April 2020 following the Oakervee Review, which allowed work to begin on removing of London Clay to create the space required for the -long rectangular station box at a depth of . The piling alone will require the removal of a further , making a total of more than of excavated material.
To overcome the site's limited access along the single-carriageway Old Oak Common Lane, and reduce lorry movements across London, a -long conveyor belt will be assembled to transport the excavated material to Willesden Euro Terminal railhead, to be removed by rail freight and then recycled. At its peak, there will be 1,500 workers building the station.
Timeline
Groundwork started on the site in 2019, following the completion of the consultation opened in February 2019. In May 2020, the station gained planning permission. In June 2020, sheet piling commenced on site and the main works contractor for the station started work.
Permanent works began on site in June 2021, starting with the construction of 1.8 km-long underground walls which will form the underground station box for the HS2 platforms.
Planned services
The following table illustrates the planned range of services, based on current DfT documentation on the station, additional proposed serves are described in the following sub-sections.
The Business Case, released in 2020, suggests that every HS2 service that calls at London Euston will also call at Old Oak Common.
Journey times from Old Oak Common to Euston will be five minutes and to Birmingham Curzon Street 31minutes.