High Speed 2 in London: Let's Get It Right
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High Speed Railways High Speed 2 in London let’s get it right Jonathan Roberts of the JRC consultancy discusses the route of the new line in the capital ith 70-80% of all High Speed When HS2 Phase 2 opens around 2033 the entirely within the present railway. Already 2 travel being to or from the first main lines will have been around for it is proving simpler and no more expensive capital, it is vital to get HS2 nearly two centuries. The quality of the new to put the new line into tunnel under the proposals right in the London main line should also stand the test of time. Chiltern line from Marylebone, between Wand Home Counties regions. HS2 takes over part of the latest ‘classic’ Northolt Junction and West Ruislip. This article addresses the four conditions main line built in north west London. The raised in the Mayor of London’s 2011 Great Western / Great Central Joint Railway Old Oak Common: the future ‘Park Royal consultation response on HS2 and shared by opened in 1904-10 through Middlesex and City’ other London area stakeholders. They are: the Chilterns, to shorten the journey to the Old Oak Common is foreseen as large-scale in n environmental mitigation along the north West and East Midlands. HS2 is set to take both development and railway terms. Space west London corridor; over part of the route used by the GW from prevents elaboration of the full thinking for n inclusion of more than just Crossrail in Old Paddington to reach the Joint line. the development planning, but it aligns with Oak Common interchange; The Mayor is arguing about environmental one of HS2’s core objectives, to stimulate n solving the weaknesses of the HS2-HS1 factors on this North Acton to Northolt economic growth. link; section of HS2, with 6,300 homes affected Creation of 20,000 jobs was the ambition n mitigating Euston interchange pressures. by noticeable noise increase. The desire is to in early HS2 documentation. Now, a put this section into tunnel. The current HS2 150-hectare zone will be designated ‘Park Environmental mitigation position is to mitigate, not tunnel. Royal City’: a premier development at one London is no exception to the environmental Bolstering the Mayor’s position is the fact of the country’s largest interchanges. Over a imperative. Its population, heading towards that a re-engineered railway accommodating 40-year timescale (about the history of the 10 million over the next two decades with GC-gauge vehicles and a High Speed air- current Canary Wharf when complete) should higher density, merits a lot of mitigation. pressure-related ‘kinematic’ gauge doesn’t fit see the creation of 100,000 jobs and 19,000 56 Modern Railways May 2013 www.modernrailways.co.uk Silkstream Junc. Harrow & High Speed Railwaysl l Wealdstone l l Burroughs Tun. l J l l Hendon B Central M Kingsbury Harrow North Junc. Kenton Hendon I I I Harrow-on-the-Hill West Harrow Brent Cross LUL NR Northwick M Park Preston Road Cricklewood Freight Depot- Victoria Railfreight J/M Sidings South Kenton Wembley Park Brent Curve 3 Sidings Junc. South Harrow CE Sidings Wembley Park Sidings Dudding Hill Junc. Sudbury Hill North Wembley Neasden Neasden Depot d South Harrow Harrow Freight Term.- Tun. Tibbett & Britten Cricklewood Sudbury & Wembley Wembley Neasden Northolt Park Sudbury Harrow Road Stadium DMU Depot Hill Neasden Junc. Willesden Wembley Stone Terminal- Dollis Sidings Wembley Aggregate Industries Green Sudbury Town Central Heavy Stonebridge Park Hill J/M Repair Neasden South Junc. Shops Depot Wembley InterCity B Carriage Depot (WB) P Stonebridge I I I II I Wembley European Park I I I II II Freight Yard Harlesden I I I I I I I I I Greenford W. Junc. l I I Willesden Royal I l I l I I WEMBLEY MAIN LINE I I I I Alperton Mail Terminal Reversing Greenford l l l E. Junc. Sudbury I I Junc. MG Gas Siding LTE Bay Junc. I Willesden ‘F’ Sidings- Products Kensal Kensal South Junc. ‘Virtual Quarry’ Willesden Green Rise Perivale Willesden Junc. Junc. South Greenford Brent Yard Acton Canal WN C Wharf Junc. 5 Stone Term.- b Kensal Marcon Topmix 1 a 2 Kensal Green Hanger Lane North Acton Green l l l l Junc. Tuns. l l l l e I 6 I I I I I I Acton Wells I l Park Royal I I I Park l I I I I OO Royal I I l Junc. l l l l Branch I I l 7 North Maintenance Depot Castle Bar Junc. North l l l c Pole Junc. Park Acton North Pole Servicing C Acton Depot (European Shepherd’s Drayton Green Tunnel Yard Services) (NP) Bush North Ealing West 4 East (Disused) Drayton Green Junc. Acton Latimer Hanger Lane Junc. Acton Road Drayton Green Ealing Broadway D Acton Acton East C Plasser Wks. Main Line Junc. l CE Sidings White City l H/O l Hanwell West Ealing I I West Wood Lane I I Hanwell Bridge l Hanwell Ealing Junc. l Ealing Common I l Sidings Junc. Ealing Common I Acton White City Depot I Depot I Central Shepherd's Bush I P/D I Museum Market I I Acton Town Shepherd's North Junc. P Goldhawk Road Bush South Ealing Acton Town South Acton Hammersmith Depot LUL Acton Works South Acton Northfields Junc. Stamford H/O I Boston I Chiswickl Park Brook l I Manor Northfields I P/D Depot I Turnham Ravenscourt Gunnersbury Green Kew East Junc. Junc. LUL Park NR Bedford Park P/D Stone Term. - Junc. Aggregate Old Kew Junc. New Kew Gunnersbury Hammersmith Industries Kew Bridge Junc. Brentford D Goods Brentford Waste Terminal West London Waste Kew Bridge Osterley Chiswick Syon Lane Kew Gardens Isleworth Barnes Bridge P Barnes Bridge Hounslow D East Barnes Mortlake Barnes Junc. Euston: set to be adapted to handle high- North Sheen Putney speed trains under HS2 Ltd plans. Desiro in Hounslow Richmond the station on 8 May 2009. Brian Morrison Extract from Stuart Baker’s Rail Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland (Ian Allan Publishing) showing the lines in the Old Oak Common area today. homes directly and indirectly at London’s Crossrail 1-West Coast link via Park Royal City 4,000 peak passengers with the West London largest Opportunity Area, with a Gross Value Plans for only 10 Crossrail trains per hour (tph) line. Park Royal City would become a radial/ Added of £54billion. west of Paddington are out-of-date. Crossrail and orbital interchange improving public transport’s A transport working party including HS2, sponsors are reviewing a timetable with most of appeal on the west side of London. DfT, Network Rail, Transport for London and the the 24tph from the central section heading further Options that were studied included a south- local authorities has been involved alongside westwards. There is potential for a spur via Park side station and Overground route from the the property development planning work. Royal City, for trains towards Watford and Tring. West London line, or a central station. Of various Interchange and rail permutations will have to This would relieve passenger and train pressures links to the North London line, the most effective work in a complex environment. North Acton at Euston terminus. One option uses the tail of the were ‘Shoreditch-type’ curves to minimise land and Willesden Junction stations are nearby GW Birmingham line then tunnels towards the use impact. The central station is now considered and can stimulate some early development West Coast main line. Another might be via the difficult to build concurrently with works for HS2 zones; they may merit links to Park Royal City Dudding Hill line. and Crossrail/GW. interchange. Stakeholders have also considered It may be too late for a scheme to be included in The station options are now to the south or personal rapid transit (PRT) for local connections. the HS2 Hybrid Bill, so needing separate powers to at Acton Wells Junction. The station would be The Underground at Euston will not be able to progress the scheme ahead of HS2. Stakeholders shared by West London and North London line accommodate all HS2 passengers coming into wait to hear from the Secretary of State as regards trains. There would be an option of Overground London, so Park Royal City will provide a safety the extent of DfT support for this proposal. serving the Dudding Hill line. Also, Southern to valve with one-third of passengers interchanging West Coast trains could run via the Acton Canal here with Crossrail/Heathrow trains. 16 platforms Overground at Park Royal City Wharf route, which comes off the Dudding Hill will give a ‘Stratford scale’ of connectivity: two There is strong Mayoral, TfL and local authority line and joins the West Coast main line near each way for HS2, two HS2-HS1, four Crossrail/ support for an Overground interchange within Stonebridge Park (although journey times are GW local, four GW fast, 2+ for Overground. The Park Royal City. This would remove about likely to be slow and the alignment might need station could eventually handle 200,000 daily 10% of HS2 flows from Euston, aiding access improving). passengers from its catchment area and rail to HS2 from other parts of London. Projected Network Rail has looked at these and many interchange. Overground interchange volumes are high, eg other options for both the Southern services and www.modernrailways.co.uk May 2013 Modern Railways 57 High Speed Railways Greengauge 21 Director Jim Steer said ‘There appears to have been no examination of the inter-regional demand that could be served by the link.