Old Oak Common railway station
Encyclopedia
Old Oak Common railway station (or Crossrail Interchange) is a proposed railway station in west London
, England
, in the United Kingdom
.
The new station has been included as a part of the proposed High Speed 2
line from London Euston to Birmingham. The station would be constructed on the site of the Old Oak Common railway depot
, and would provide a major transport interchange with a number of other mainline and commuter rail services, including Crossrail
and the Great Western Main Line
. The planned High Speed 2 line would be in tunnel at this point, with the Great Western Main Line and Crossrail tracks on the surface. The station may be the initial London terminus of High Speed 2, prior to its extension to Euston.
(DfT), Old Oak Common would provide direct interchange between HS2 and Crossrail
and Great Western Main Line
services, including those operated by Heathrow Express
and First Great Western
.
The station would also have connections with London Overground
and Southern
services on the North London
and West London Line
s.
The 2010 DfT proposal outlines a number of other possible transport links at Old Oak Common, including the addition of a direct link with the High Speed 1 route to Mainland European services
via the Channel Tunnel
.
The DfT report also raises the possibility of interchange with the London Underground
Central Line
(located west of the Old Oak Common site) and with the Bakerloo
and Watford DC
lines (which both pass to the north of the site)
submitted a detailed plan to High Speed 2 which included West London Line, North London Line, West Coast Main Line and Dudding Hill Line
platforms, although this pre-dated the announcement of the HS2 London terminus such that their proposed alignment would not be possible.
A separate proposal promoted by the Campaign for Better Transport advocacy group
, the North and West London Light Railway, suggests running a light rail
line past the Old Oak Common site between and Brent Cross
. This scheme is not, however, supported by any government plans.
. While the present Conservative/Liberal Democrat administration
supports the HS2 project, they have indicated a preference to an alternative proposal, put forward by Arup
, for the HS2 line to go directly to a hub station at Heathrow Airport
. Under this scheme, the west London interchange would be situated at Heathrow rather than at Old Oak Common. Conservative MP Theresa Villiers
(now a Minister of State for Transport
) referred to the Old Oak Common scheme as "Wormwood Scrubs International", and criticised it on account of its distance from the airport and the inconvenience to airport passengers having to change trains. The Mayor of London
, Boris Johnson
has been non-committal in supporting the Old Oak Common site, and takes the view that further evaluation is required.
When asked about a High Speed Rail / Crossrail interchange at Old Oak Common, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond
stated "Lug your heavy bags down a couple of escalators along 600m of corridor and then change trains at a wet suburban station somewhere in north west London. That is not an option.".
The Old Oak Common plans are supported by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. However Kensington and Chelsea Council has been pushing for a Crossrail station to the east of it (under the name of Kensal/Kensal Rise/Kensal Green) as a turn-back facility is needed in that area, and placing it at Kensal Rise, rather than next to Paddington itself, would provide a new station to regenerate the area. Mayor Boris Johnson stated that a station could only be added if it did not increase Crossrail's overall cost; in response Kensington and Chelsea Council agreed to underwrite the projected £33 million cost of a Crossrail station.
Lord Mawhinney, a former Conservative MP for Peterborough
has concluded that High Speed 2 (HS2) the London terminus should be at Old Oak Common, not at . This idea goes against the Conservative Party's first idea that Old Oak Common should not even be built. This is because of tunnelling cost along with fast turnaround times at Old Oak Common.
In summer 2011, Hammersmith and Fulham launched a wider 'Park Royal City' plan for Old Oak Common, including light-rail lines to the surrounding areas.
. Currently this area is made up of the disused EWS train maintenance site to the north, which is currently being converted into a construction equipment marshalling area for the Crossrail
Project. To the South of this site is the First Great Western
Old Oak Common Traction Maintenance Depot. Should Old Oak Common Station be built as proposed it will leave the Great Western Main Line
with no traction maintenance facilities east of Reading, Berkshire
.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The new station has been included as a part of the proposed High Speed 2
High Speed 2
High Speed 2 is a proposed high-speed railway between London and the Midlands, the North of England, and potentially at a later stage the central belt of Scotland. The project is being developed by High Speed Two Ltd, a company established by the British government...
line from London Euston to Birmingham. The station would be constructed on the site of the Old Oak Common railway depot
Old Oak Common TMD
Old Oak Common TMD is situated to the west of London, in Old Oak Common. The Traction Maintenance Depot is the main facility for the storage and servicing of locomotives and multiple-units which utilise Paddington Station. The depot codes are 'OC' for the diesel depot, and 'OO' for the carriage shed...
, and would provide a major transport interchange with a number of other mainline and commuter rail services, including Crossrail
Crossrail
Crossrail is a project to build a major new railway link under central London. The name refers to the first of two routes which are the responsibility of Crossrail Ltd. It is based on an entirely new east-west tunnel with a central section from to Liverpool Street station...
and the Great Western Main Line
Great Western Main Line
The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads railway station in Bristol. A major branch of the Great...
. The planned High Speed 2 line would be in tunnel at this point, with the Great Western Main Line and Crossrail tracks on the surface. The station may be the initial London terminus of High Speed 2, prior to its extension to Euston.
Interchange
According to the proposals issued in 2010 by the Department for TransportDepartment for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
(DfT), Old Oak Common would provide direct interchange between HS2 and Crossrail
Crossrail
Crossrail is a project to build a major new railway link under central London. The name refers to the first of two routes which are the responsibility of Crossrail Ltd. It is based on an entirely new east-west tunnel with a central section from to Liverpool Street station...
and Great Western Main Line
Great Western Main Line
The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads railway station in Bristol. A major branch of the Great...
services, including those operated by Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express is an airport rail link from London Heathrow Airport to London Paddington station in London operated by the Heathrow Express Operating Authority, a wholly owned subsidiary of BAA. It was opened by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998...
and First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
.
The station would also have connections with London Overground
London Overground
London Overground is a suburban rail network in London and Hertfordshire. It has been operated by London Overground Rail Operations since 2007 as part of the National Rail network, under the franchise control and branding of Transport for London...
and Southern
Southern (train operating company)
Southern is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Officially named Southern Railway Ltd., it is a subsidiary of Govia, a joint venture between transport groups Go-Ahead Group and Keolis, and has operated the South Central rail franchise since October 2000 and the Gatwick Express service...
services on the North London
North London Line
The North London Line is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of north London, England. Its route is a rough semicircle from the south west to the north east, avoiding central London. The line is owned and maintained by Network Rail...
and West London Line
West London Line
The West London Line is a short railway in inner West London which links lines at in the south to lines near Willesden Junction in the north. It has always been an important cross-London link especially for freight services...
s.
The 2010 DfT proposal outlines a number of other possible transport links at Old Oak Common, including the addition of a direct link with the High Speed 1 route to Mainland European services
High-speed rail in Europe
High-speed rail is emerging in Europe as an increasingly popular and efficient means of transport. The first high-speed rail lines in Europe, built in the 1980s and 1990s, improved travel times on intra-national corridors. Since then, several countries have built extensive high-speed networks,...
via the Channel Tunnel
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
.
The DfT report also raises the possibility of interchange with the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
Central Line
Central Line
The Central line is a London Underground line, coloured red on the tube map. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west across London, and, at , has the greatest total length of track of any line on the Underground. Of the 49 stations served, 20 are below ground...
(located west of the Old Oak Common site) and with the Bakerloo
Bakerloo Line
The Bakerloo line is a line of the London Underground, coloured brown on the Tube map. It runs partly on the surface and partly at deep level, from Elephant and Castle in the south-east to Harrow & Wealdstone in the north-west of London. The line serves 25 stations, of which 15 are underground...
and Watford DC
Watford DC Line
The Watford DC Line is a commuter railway line from London Euston to Watford Junction. Services on the line are operated by London Overground....
lines (which both pass to the north of the site)
Proposed services
While the station remains at the proposal stage, the following table illustrates the potential range of services, based on current DfT documentation but subject to change:Other proposals
The construction company Parsons BrinckerhoffParsons Brinckerhoff
Parsons Brinckerhoff is a professional services firm with 14,000 employees in 150 offices providing construction and operation management, planning, design, engineering, program management, strategic consulting, environmental and sustainability services for clients and communities in the Americas,...
submitted a detailed plan to High Speed 2 which included West London Line, North London Line, West Coast Main Line and Dudding Hill Line
Dudding Hill Line
The Dudding Hill Line is a railway line in north-west London running from Acton to Cricklewood. The line has no scheduled passenger service, no stations, no electrification, and a 30 mph speed limit with semaphore signalling, and is lightly used by freight and very occasional passenger charter...
platforms, although this pre-dated the announcement of the HS2 London terminus such that their proposed alignment would not be possible.
A separate proposal promoted by the Campaign for Better Transport advocacy group
Advocacy group
Advocacy groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy; they have played and continue to play an important part in the development of political and social systems...
, the North and West London Light Railway, suggests running a light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
line past the Old Oak Common site between and Brent Cross
Brent Cross
Brent Cross is an area of north London, in the London Borough of Barnet. It is located near the A41 Brent Cross Flyover over the A406 North Circular Road. Brent Cross is best known for its shopping centre and the proposed Brent Cross Cricklewood development....
. This scheme is not, however, supported by any government plans.
Political support
The Old Oak Common plans were unveiled two months before the 2010 United Kingdom General Election by the Labour governmentBrown Ministry
Gordon Brown took office as Prime Minister on 27 June 2007 and formed his Government. It ended, upon his resignation, on 11 May 2010. In his inaugural cabinet Brown appointed the UKs first female Home Secretary Jacqui Smith....
. While the present Conservative/Liberal Democrat administration
Cameron Ministry
David Cameron is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, after being invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a new government after the resignation as Prime Minister of Gordon Brown on 11 May 2010. Leading a coalition government formed by the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, the coalition...
supports the HS2 project, they have indicated a preference to an alternative proposal, put forward by Arup
Arup
Arup is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment. The firm is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the...
, for the HS2 line to go directly to a hub station at Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Hub railway station
The Heathrow Hub is a proposed railway interchange to serve, principally, future High Speed 2 rail services for Heathrow Airport. It was part of a proposal put forward by global engineering, design and consulting firm Arup in 2008, as a means of extending the UK’s high speed rail network from...
. Under this scheme, the west London interchange would be situated at Heathrow rather than at Old Oak Common. Conservative MP Theresa Villiers
Theresa Villiers
Theresa Anne Villiers is a British Conservative Party politician. She is the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet and the Minister of State for Transport.She was appointed as a Privy Counsellor on 9 June 2010.-Early life:...
(now a Minister of State for Transport
Minister of State for Transport
The Minister of State for Transport is a junior ministerial position in the Department for Transport of the Government of the United Kingdom. The current Minister of State for Transport is Theresa Villiers MP.-Ministers of State for Transport:-References:...
) referred to the Old Oak Common scheme as "Wormwood Scrubs International", and criticised it on account of its distance from the airport and the inconvenience to airport passengers having to change trains. The Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...
, Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
has been non-committal in supporting the Old Oak Common site, and takes the view that further evaluation is required.
When asked about a High Speed Rail / Crossrail interchange at Old Oak Common, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond
Philip Hammond
Philip Hammond MP is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the current Defence Secretary in the Coalition government led by David Cameron, having succeeded Liam Fox on 14 October 2011...
stated "Lug your heavy bags down a couple of escalators along 600m of corridor and then change trains at a wet suburban station somewhere in north west London. That is not an option.".
The Old Oak Common plans are supported by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. However Kensington and Chelsea Council has been pushing for a Crossrail station to the east of it (under the name of Kensal/Kensal Rise/Kensal Green) as a turn-back facility is needed in that area, and placing it at Kensal Rise, rather than next to Paddington itself, would provide a new station to regenerate the area. Mayor Boris Johnson stated that a station could only be added if it did not increase Crossrail's overall cost; in response Kensington and Chelsea Council agreed to underwrite the projected £33 million cost of a Crossrail station.
Lord Mawhinney, a former Conservative MP for Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
has concluded that High Speed 2 (HS2) the London terminus should be at Old Oak Common, not at . This idea goes against the Conservative Party's first idea that Old Oak Common should not even be built. This is because of tunnelling cost along with fast turnaround times at Old Oak Common.
In summer 2011, Hammersmith and Fulham launched a wider 'Park Royal City' plan for Old Oak Common, including light-rail lines to the surrounding areas.
Site
The proposed site of the Old Oak Common interchange station is located to the north of Wormwood ScrubsWormwood Scrubs
Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs, is an open space located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the Borough, at 80 ha , and one of the largest areas of common land in London...
. Currently this area is made up of the disused EWS train maintenance site to the north, which is currently being converted into a construction equipment marshalling area for the Crossrail
Crossrail
Crossrail is a project to build a major new railway link under central London. The name refers to the first of two routes which are the responsibility of Crossrail Ltd. It is based on an entirely new east-west tunnel with a central section from to Liverpool Street station...
Project. To the South of this site is the First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
Old Oak Common Traction Maintenance Depot. Should Old Oak Common Station be built as proposed it will leave the Great Western Main Line
Great Western Main Line
The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads railway station in Bristol. A major branch of the Great...
with no traction maintenance facilities east of Reading, Berkshire
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
.