Welcome to London’s newest neighbourhood
HS2 AND CROSSRAIL SERVICES WILL LINK AT OLD OAK COMMON STATION ‘SUPER HUB’
NOT many Londoners know this, but London is about to get an entire new neighbourhood.
The UK’s largest regeneration project, Old Oak Common, will bring 25,500 homes and 65,000 jobs to a neglected part of West London, stretching over 640 hectares. The sale is so vast, that it will be 30 years before all work is completed.
The Old Oak Common development is also tied in with HS2 and Crossrail , with a brand new rail interchange planned.
Now the developers have revealed the final designs chosen for what that £1.3 billion station will look like.
In an effort to build Old Oak into a “super hub” for living and working, the station has “seamless” connections between HS2 which will run between Euston and Birmingham, and Crossrail.
The station will effectively be split into two halves, with the high-speed rail platforms in underground tunnels. A shared overbridge will link HS2 with the Elizabeth Line at a ground-level platform.
Estimates are for a quarter of a million people to use the new station every day, providing faster links to Heathrow Airport and Central London from Birmingham and the North, if HS2 Phase 2 is built.
It is estimated that 150,000 new jobs will be created in total within an hour’s journey from Old Oak, as a result of the widescale regeneration of the area.
Inspired by the industrial history of the area, the new station has been designed by WSP and architects WilkinsonEyre, has a soaring glass roof to the light and airy concourse.
Escalators will lead down to the HS2 platforms which will be covered by a new park, which could include broadleafed trees and water features, and outdoor event spaces.
The new park will be the welcome space to London’s newest neighbourhood, which will stretch across 2.5 square miles.
Also coming to the vast development, will be two new London Overground stations, At Hythe Road, 700 metres from the interchange station, and at Old Oak Common Lane, 300 metres away.
HS2’s opening date still officially stands at 2026, while Crossrail was due to open in central London in December. Issues with signalling systems and trains have pushed the estimated start date back significantly and there is now no advertised opening date.
Adrian Tooth, WSP project director on Old Oak Common said: “As well as being a catalyst for regeneration within the wider OPDC area, the new HS2 Old Oak Common station will become a landmark destination featuring an area of urban realm to the west of London.
“Our design responds to the station’s function, recognising that more than half of those using the station will interchange between the below ground HS2 and the Elizabeth Line.
“The station form takes inspiration from our Victorian railway heritage and the juxtaposition between the above and below ground railways.”