Old Oak Common railway station

Interchange

According to the proposals issued in 2010 by the Department for Transport (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 Great Western Railway.

Planned services

While the station remains at the proposal stage, the following table illustrates the potential range of services, based on current DfT and TfL documentation but subject to change:

Additional interchange proposals

Due to the proximity of the Old Oak Common site to other lines, it has been suggested that further connections could be made with commuter rail services. The 2010 DfT command paper highlights opportunities for interchanges at Old Oak Common with London Underground, London Overground and Govia Thameslink Railway Southern's cross-London services to South Croydon and Milton Keynes Central. A report prepared by Terry Farrell & Partners for the Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham also examines these interchange possibilities and proposes the construction of an overhead light rail, automated people mover or personal rapid transit system linking "Old Oak Central" [sic] with North Acton, Kensal Green and Willesden Junction stations. However, as of 2013, no actual proposals exist to create an interchange with these lines.

London Overground stations

The Transport for London consultation process has concluded that have two separate London Overground stations ("Option C") on the Old Oak Common site is the preferred option. One station, just to the east of the HS2 platforms will serve Victoria Road and Old Oak Common Lane and the other at Hythe Road will be a short walk from the west end of the HS2 platforms.

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.

Other proposals

The construction company Parsons Brinckerhoff 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.

Network Rail's London and South East Route Utilisation Strategy published in 2011 examines the possibility of constructing a chord through the Old Oak Common area to connect Crossrail to the West Coast Main Line. The report notes that a proportion of trains on the Crossrail service are planned to terminate at Paddington, and that a new western branch of Crossrail would enable those services to continue on towards Watford Junction and beyond. The proposed link would also relieve pressure on Euston station by diverting WCML suburban trains onto the Crossrail route instead of terminating at Euston.

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 Ealing Broadway and Brent Cross. 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 government. While the present Conservative/Liberal Democrat administration supports the HS2 project, the Conservative Party has 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 former 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.

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 Euston. 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 or personal rapid transit lines to the surrounding areas.

Site

The proposed site of the Old Oak Common interchange station is located to the north of Wormwood Scrubs. Currently this area is made up of the disused English Welsh & Scottish 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 Great Western Railway Old Oak Common Traction Maintenance Depot. As part of the Intercity Express Programme it will be replaced by the former Eurostar North Pole depot.