Old Oak preferred to Heathrow
Tuesday August 24, 2010
Old Oak Common is the best location for a high-speed rail interchange linking Heathrow Airport with the rest of Britain, according to a former Transport Secretary.
In his report, which was submitted to the coalition Government last month, Lord Brian Mawhinney recommends that a ‘Heathrow Hub’ would be too costly for taxpayers. Instead, a super-hub station should be built in the north of the borough at Old Oak Common, he argues.
In a detailed study submitted to High Speed 2 (HS2) – the company set up to examine options for a high speed line between Scotland and London – in November 2009, Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council argued that a new station just north of Wormwood Scrubs should be London’s major interchange on the new route.
A new station at Old Oak would take the pressure off Euston, Paddington and Marylebone, and provide far better connections with existing tracks, according to the council.
However, with some people arguing that the new high-speed interchange should be at the airport itself, Lord Mawhinney was asked to review the options.
Lord Mawhinney said: “I have concluded that, in the early stages of a high speed rail network, there is no compelling case for a direct rail link to Heathrow, and that a London-Old Oak Common interchange could provide an appropriate, good quality terminus and connection point to the airport.”
Lord Mawhinney added that financial issues will also count against a hub being placed at Heathrow. He said: “It is clear that changing the route of the main high-speed line to run via Heathrow, at an additional cost of £2 billion to £4 billion, is not likely to represent value for money to the taxpayer or the train operator.”
When it is built, HS2 will speed commuters from London, via Birmingham and Manchester, to Glasgow in just over two hours. However, the Department of Transport (DfT) is yet to formally rule out a hub at Heathrow.
Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond said: “I am extremely grateful to Lord Mawhinney for carrying out this review. High Speed 2 are also doing some detailed work in this area and will carefully consider Lord Mawhinney’s recommendations alongside this further work.”
The DfT is expected to announce its conclusions later this year with residents in the north of H&F, the south of Brent and eastern part of Ealing all becoming major beneficiaries if the hub station is eventually built at Old Oak.
5,000 jobs would be created as well as new homes and community facilities if the station is built on 90 hectares of underused railway and light industrial, according to the council.
Cllr Mark Loveday, H&F Cabinet Member for Strategy, says: “Old Oak Common is unrivalled as a site for west London’s High Speed 2 interchange. The site is perfectly placed to connect the rest of the country with Heathrow and will deliver tens of thousands of new jobs and homes to one of the most deprived communities in the country.”
Old Oak intersects the Great Western mainline and the West and North London Lines and provides an ideal location for a future Crossrail station, according to the council. A new high-speed station on the site would also create an ideal interchange linking Heathrow Express services to Birmingham, the north and Gatwick Airport, as well as reducing the strain on central London stations. Journey times from the Old Oak hub to Heathrow would be just 11 minutes.
Unemployment near the Old Oak Common site is well above the national average and poor access to housing and other services are also a challenge for local people.
Cllr Loveday adds: “We welcome Lord Mawhinney’s review and his sensible conclusions. We are hopeful that the DfT will accept his recommendation as an HS2 station at Old Oak would provide a once in a lifetime renaissance for the area as well as being the obvious and sensible solution to linking Heathrow with the nation’s rail network in a way that befits commuters and taxpayers.”
To read the Mawhinney Review visit: www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/pi/highspeedrail/lordmawhinneyreport/pdf/highspeedrailaccessheathrow.pdf
