Campaigners seek to link West London Line to HS2

A campaign group in London wants the Government to build a direct link between HS2 and the West London Line at Old Oak Common, claiming that such a connection would offer greater connectivity for southern England.

“We’d like to see a physical link between the underground HS2 platforms at Old Oak Common and the West London Line,” Mark Balaam, chairman of the West London Line Group, told RAIL.

“There is enough space and the length of the curve is quite short in railway development terms - 1.2km - but it would allow a breathing space once operational between both networks.”

Balaam estimated the cost of such a link at between £500 million and £1 billion (the same as the Battersea Park extension of the Northern Line), and claimed funding for the project could come from HS2’s contingency fund.

“In terms of the overall HS2 budget, one-third of that was shown as contingency. We hope contingency is not just to deal with problems, but also opportunities for greater integration between HS2 and the classic network, as is happening elsewhere in the country,” he said.

“This link allows service expansion, because it means HS2 trains are practically able to get to Gatwick, as well as along HS1. By the time HS2 comes in, there could be a market for trains from the north of England to Europe.”

• To read the FULL story, read RAIL 858, published on August 1, and available digitally on Android/iPad from July 28