Jago, how could you miss the opportunity to say "Euston, we have a problem!" when discussing the timing mismatch and need to change trains at Old oak Common! 🤪

"The general impression I get is that the government are hiding under the desk sobbing to themselves and hoping it goes away" The Jago quote of the day

The biggest mistake is advertising this as High Speed Two. If they'd had advertised the whole thing as a West Coast Capacity Upgrade or something similar that focussed on more trains and more seats, I think there'd be a lot more support for it. Nobody cares about shaving time off a journey from Birmingham. They want a seat.

That's the clearest and most objective explanation of Old Oak that I've seen or heard. We all know what a s-shower HS2 has been turned into so it's nice to hear some facts.

Under the original scheme, it would have run to the East Midlands and Leeds as well, thus freeing space on the East Coast Main Line and the Midland Main Line as well as the West Coast Main Line.

I live in the area and find it totally appropriate to get my own personal rail hub

Not putting the relief of the main line in the marketing was a big stumble. They should have learned from the very first high speed rail project - 'Shinkansen' is Japanese for 'new trunk line'. Not about the speed, but the capacity!

Aah, the nostalgic memories of the walk from Willesden Junction Station over the canal and into the loco yard and the turntable.

Freeing up space on the WCML is the aim which is conveniently forgotten or deliberately missed by opponents

I frequently visited OOC in steam days. Never got thrown out, in fact some staff were more than happy to chat to me and the many trainspotters that seemed to be all over the depot. The passenger locos were often fairly clean in their green livery while the humble Pannier tanks were covered in grime. I remember one of them still had "GWR" on it's sides 11 or 12 years after nationalisation! Many fond memories. The new station probably won't be complete in my lifetime but I hope it brings back some of the excitement in train travel that I felt all those years ago.

‘Hiding under a desk and sobbing’ - sums it up nicely!

Years ago when the site was being redeveloped we found the long forgotten coal bunkers, great slabs of steam coal all over the place, the more we pulled up the more came up to the surface, at the time we lived on a boat and had a coal fire and that stuff lasted us for years. That area is now a mini park that runs by the side of the Grand union canal, you can still see the coal in the ground.

It’s been one of those days here in Germany, and was an absolute pleasure to come home and hear the voice of reason. Thank you Jago!

Suspect that the government don’t care if the Euston to Old Oak Common extension gets built. The private finance line just gives them a plausible excuse.

Fun fact: 'Battersea' used to have a station on the Overground. Well, I say Overground; It opened in 1863 and closed in 1940 and was located close to Clapham Junction - if you were heading towards what is now Imperial Wharf Station - just west of what's known as Latchmere 2 Junction. On Google Maps, it was roughly where the junction of Simpson Street, Gwynne Road and Battersea High Street is.

They should have started building HS2 from Leeds, and work down towards Birmingham. It was inevitable that anything north of Birmingham would have been cancelled.

I'm going to suggest to Rishi a cunning plan based on railway history: just rename Old Oak Common station to be "Euston Road". There's plenty of examples of "XYZ Road" being nowhere near XYZ butrailway companies wanting people to think it was. If it was good enough for Victorians in the Golden Age....

Old Oak common would be so much more useful if they tied it into the 5 other railway and underground lines that are very close by. Maybe they will build satellite platforms with travellators to the main station hub in the future so that it can become more beneficial for folks in North and West London.

Not only should HS2 "go rogue" and build the link to Euston then go totally rogue and build both the Leeds & Manchester sections - then finish the job properly by heading north to Inverness (via Glasgow & Edinburgh).

Great video Jago thank you. I think the reason that the public focus on the 'speed' rationale for HS2 is because that is the only tangible benefit that they can see, and for many extra freed up capacity isn't a benefit. More capacity on the WCML will be harder to see in action and harder for many to appreciate, especially when what it means in practice is the removal of some existing high-speed services on the WCML to be replaced by stoppers. Rumour has it that my home town of Lichfield will lose it's 2-or-3-times-a-day 'quick' service to Euston, but gain an extra 'slow' train per hour. So you can see how many see the only real tangible rationale of HS2 as speed. Personally, as a rail enthusiast I'm in favour of high-speed rail projects like HS2, but on balance when considering the cost of HS2 versus the benefits, the money would've been better spent reinvigorating local services outside of London (especially in the West Midlands where it is dire).

You mentioned Willesden Junction. Until the 1960's, Willesden Junction was a large interchange station with many mainline platforms and only a few hundred meters away from Old Oak Common.

Capacity to Crewe is crucial for connectivity. Scrapping HS2 to Crewe makes no sense - especially as the DfT wants to nearly double rail freight on an already full intercity network...

As per your usual standard you have more information that people want to know than any b**********g politicians will ever provide , a most excellent video sir . Merry Xmas to yourself and all your viewers.

What the country needs is a Westminster gov. that values the railways and isn't looking for new ways to shaft the north. As recently reported robbing money from the Northern rail improvement fund to fix potholes in London.

Thanks for more future development updates, and Merry Christmas!

Euston...we have a problem....with Old Oak Common taking over the original planned HS2 !!!

Missed a golden opportunity to call this Old Old Oak Common and New Old Oak Common.

If it was down to me, HS2 would be built in full and be part of my UERL empire, a name change for UERL might be needed.

Importantly for the Elizabeth Line, Old Oak Common will include several turn back sidings and will eliminate the troublesome reversal process at Paddington

It's a pity Old Oak Common can't also be inserted into the Central and Bakerloo lines somehow.

That day in 2017 when we queued for hours / miles to get into OOC, ahh lovely memories, lovely day

Old Oak Common is a half hour walk from my house. Got a model of a GWR breakvan. Remember when it was a train graveyard 20 plus years ago...

OOC is so well connected to much of Greater London and the South East Region, that unless your journey is almost within walking distance of Euston, there would be little advantage in travelling through Euston. However, it will mean that both the Elizabeth Line and London Overground will need to be upgraded.

Timely and informative. Thank you, Jago!

Changing OOC from a through-run to a terminus isn't as simple as just blocking the ends of the platforms ... there will need to be far more complex track layouts approaching OOC so that trains can be routed into the available platforms (which will remain congested for longer and reduce capacity). Presumably there will need to be additional facilities for crews, passenger information and waiting facilities - all of the extra amenities that a terminus requires which a through-run doesn't. Have these additional requirements/costs been included in the new forecasts? My guess is no, because: 1. The line is going to Euston eventually, maybe, someday 2. This will become an additional cost blow-out the next Government can take responsibility for

They should put up a statue of Gertrude Stein outside the main entrance to Old Oak Common. She it was who said of her home town: 'When you get there, there's no there there'.

Good evening all

The big mistake was calling it HS2 when the whole point was extra capacity (primarily for freight). So X-Cap would have been a better title (which you are welcome to use). And that's what's really unusual - politicians making mistakes. Who'd have thought it. As another has pointed out, we needed Mr Yerkes. Incisive as usual, thanks, Mr H. Simon T

When HS2 to Manchester was cancelled I was at a conference across the road from Euston Station and I said to my mates that in the end the only bit that will be built is Euston to Old Oak

I don't care how much it costs just finish it, including the original plan to go "Oop North" and even though I'll never use it, at least it will be more gain for everyone than it is now.

I have my fingers crossed for the acton-northolt line to be reopened as overground going into OOC

Thank you for the sound effect at 3:55, I would have absolutely no idea what was going on if not for that lovely sound.

People living in and around Curzon Street in Birmingham will be very fortunate to have a convenient rail link to Old Oak Common (only five miles from Central London).

Hello Jago I really love your videos, since moving here for university they have kept me entertained and taught me so much about London. Please do a video on the architecture of the Jubilee line extension stations

Well done Jago for another informative and entertaining video. A couple of things to say here: You are right about the government 'hiding under the desk'. However we have had governments on all sides doing this ever since I can remember. Railways aren't a vote winner in the way the NHS or Education are. Secondly, I was under the impression that the Elizabeth line will extend the Paddington terminators to and from Old Oak Common once that station is open.

I guess that we in the north should be used to being robbed of railway innovation by now, despite all the money having been spent. In fairness though, we did get the use of some of the North of London Eurostar sets when they were on hire to GNER....

It always makes me think of Old Oak Ham.

Richy Sunk (yes, my autocorrect did it too!) doesn't need trains. He travels around the country by helicopter, courtesy of the RAF and paid for by the tax payer. Jago, you ought to make a video about Network North and how it's spending £230mn diverted from the northern leg of HS2 on filling potholes in London

I’m puzzled about what is going to happen to Euston (granted, I haven’t really looked into it). The station’s tube lines already seem dangerously congested

I frequently bike through that area from Harlesden to North Acton and I never found the place plentiful enough to build such a massive station

That comment about hiding under the desks and sobbing rngs true another case of "well yes the. project is great for [people who love the NHS make my morning coffee and deliver my take away BUT what does 'big money say?"

Extending the Battersea branch a stop further to Clapham Junction will make the line more useful right

Hello, good welcome and evening to you too!

The WCML would not have been so congested had Beeching not closed the GWR route to Merseyside via the West Midlands and Great Central route to Manchester via the East Midlands ... with ( in many cases) passengers expected to travel on the newly electrified WCML instead.

The speed-freaks having gotten off HS2 at OOC are really going to want to walk the walk to Willesden to continue onto Euston

Thank you Jago - again a fabulously informative video. Living in Germany I had heard about Old Oak Common only from former publications on the original GWR - wasn't aware that OOC is to become a fourteen track (?!) passenger hub station. It will be interesting to see what we will think of it 50 years from now. Maybe we will end up with a second Canfranc in the Pyrenees 🤔?

I'm sure the priginal plan was to link up with HS1 and thus provide a route to the Continent for cities other than London. Reducing transport dependence on London was key. The moment that connection to HS1 was cancelled, planners have struggled to articulate *what* purpose HS2 might serve.

I hope this station is more successful than Stratford International (and Ebbsfleet and Ashford International). Yes builders, do go rogue and build the Euston tunnels and build the Manchester and Leeds sections while you're at it!

What most people don't realize is that this new station won't just have HS2, but also the Elizabeth Line and Overground. It's a game changer for this sleepy, residential and leafy area of West London that most people have never been to,

I used to play rugby with GWR in Ealing over 30 years some of the guys l played with were from Bristol and used to work for GWR Railway before the railways were natinised

can you do a vid on the finances (they must make Yerkes seem like a bastion of economy) , I understand one problem was not the overall budget but the annual cash limit expenditure

Even after the announcment that the line would stop short of Euston I noticed the works continued. It's almost like the government lie...surely not?

Thank you for keeping me up to date, as I don't live in London anymore.

I really liked the way in which the line about the people in Westminster was delivered. I don't, however, like the way in which the people in Westminster deliver their line...

Jago is gradually building up his credibility as a future Minister of Transport!👏😊🚂 #JagoForTransportMinister

i really wish they'd have decided on building Euston Cross allowing HS1 to connect to HS 2 From Stratford international to Old Oak common via Euston St pan and Kings X. it'd at least make the point of old oak a little bit more useful. on top of making is a major connection hub like Stratford too for west London. but one can dream...

3:38 If anyone wants to change his opinion, keep the Danish and the eclair ready.

There are proposals to move North Acton Tube station a few hundred yards east to meet the London Overground overbridge, creating and interchange between the two metros. If an escalator is sunk at the new location, then a short underground travellator can be built running under housing linking Old Oak Common, the Tube and the Overground. The connections from Old Oak Common would be even better then. There are too few Tube/Overground interchanges.

The Japanese made their Shinkansen plans fifty years ago, and from a recent article in response to the HS2 cancellations, "We stick to the plan."

It be interesting to see this station's progress in 6 months.

I still think that scrapping HS2 going North is a total disgrace and HS2 would have gone all the way to Manchester, Leeds and North of England. But now it’s going as far as Birmingham Curzon Street. At least that Old Oak Common station is currently under construction. And as what you said will serve HS2, National Rail, Elizabeth Line and London Overground.

To be fair, whether the Euston extension goes ahead or not, OOC is quite the station. Very impressive. I like the "just go rogue and build it anyway" approach. I just find it sad that its not going to be the project it set out to be. So, as someone with more finger on the pulse than I, and assuming that its to relieve the WCML, if I want to go to Glasgow in future, do I take a train from Euston along the old route or do I take the HS2 to Birmingham and change? How will it link up in Birmingham?

@2:02, oh joy. Another station with endless walking and many opportunities to miss the train. 😂😂😂

You didn't mention the throughput issue. If Old Oak Common is the terminus, then because of the fewer platforms, HS2 will have fewer trains per hour!

I heard HS2 hasn't gone overbudget, and that it's still within its allowances. It's just that the budget has gone from extremely rough back of the napkin maths that is so much of a guess it's basically a lie to call it a budget (£36bn) to real life actuality (£70bn, but will increase due to gov mismanagement). It also has agreements with many contractors so that if things go over the budget on their end, they have to pay the difference. This comes at the cost of a higher price to account for this risk, though.

Yerkes "This might be a bit underhand..." Rish! "Hold my Dom Perignon"

I gather they intend to lower the Euston-bound TBMs into the underground “box” at Old Oak Common, and entomb them there until such time as someone stumps up the cash to actually do the digging, on the basis that it won’t be feasible to get them in after the main part of the station is complete. They could be there a very long time.

I'm very hopeful that the Birmingham-OOC leg will open and be valued enough to inspire further development

Sexy station/connections. This is one of those "foot in the door" stations. They are building it for FUTURE connections. Easier to get approvals once this station is used.

When I was mud I saw many famous locomotives at Old Oak Common lane,The City of Truro, was one there was also a crew hostel there

No one from the North travelling to London will want to change at Old Oak Common; given west coast services will be faster or roughly take the same time given the change of train.

When I heard "Old Oak Common station" I thought "why build a station in the middle of nowhere?" (Brent Cross West, anyone?). And wouldn't you know, Jago produces a video to address that question. So there is still life in the infrastructure phrase "build it, and they will come".

In addition to the Euston extension, they should build the now cancelled HS1/HS2 link in Camden. Then the eurostar could run to Birmingham too

Jago, your comment that Euston is needed for city centre to city centre travel; Euston is not city centre. Elizabeth line is. I can see a lot of people changing at OOC precisely because they want to get to the city centre quickly.

You omitted that Eurostar trains used to get parked there when Waterloo was the departure station.

Will Paddington services whither if trains to Heathrow and Bristol etc. depart from Old Oak Common?

As always, very informative.

This video made it a lot easier to understand thanks Jago

It's the relaxation of planning laws around Euston. With the relaxation of planning laws, much taller and more dense housing can be built, and the property being built can avoid having to meet affordable housing requirements.

So there will be Heathrow Express service to Old Oak Common? Will this be in addition to the current non-stop service between Heathrow and Paddington?

Hopefully they can also finance/fund and land-manage the way to Crewe (was Phase2a), since that will ensure all the branches can be built later. Maybe Crewe and Euston can be figured out at the same time since they are both similar existential issues ? Later northern HS2 branches and NPR can muddle through.

Another incisive commentary. Excellent. I agree with everything you say about HS2 and the pantywasters in government. They can’t find their own bums with their own hands without a map.

HS2 north of Brum is a farce. The extra freight capacity still depends on re-designing the junction between HS2 and a connection to part of the WCML at Handsacre, near Rugely, which is not yet decided or funded. HS2 is an expensive farce. Levelling-up, my left foot.

You should have mentioned that HS2 pinched a large area of Wormwood Scrubs.

In fairness to HS2 & the Govt, while we “enthusiasts” might understand the aim of moving Intercity/Express trains off of the century old, congested West Coast Mainline and on to these dedicated tracks, freeing up track space for local commuter/regional trains, and it being a win-win-win for everybody. The problem is in how this fact to the average member of the public, with nuances and contexts. Probably simpler & easier to just talk about “Faster Journey times with less delays”.

I can't believe you've waited all these years to give us your spot on impression of a TBM at work 😅

I wonder what Isambard K Brunel would have thought, I’m mean he decided to build a railway from London to Bristol. So he built it, did he go through all the heart ache that HS2 is gong through. And by the way, I agree with everything you said.

From what I can gather from non-anti-rail sources, the supposed "cost increase problem" with HS2 is down to: • UK projects involving TBM runs under cities and big city centre rebuilds being compared with European projects where city stations do not need a rebuild and • The UK government looking at estimates made before Brexit and then acting as if costs should not rise a penny, when everyone in the UK knows that post-Brexit household bills have spiked upwards. In real--terms, the cost of elements of HS2 are not increasing any more than the cost of road projects are. The Tories are now cancelling HS2 (which was being built on loans based on projected ticket revenue) and proposing to build lots of roads instead. And the cost of those road projects will spike upwards and the Tories will then pay that extra money without complaint, as they are in the pockets of the automobile industry. (And, if you don't think they are, then ask yourself why the UK Prime Minister was doing a "chat show interview" with the owner of Tesla.) Meanwhile, we still have a climate emergency, the biggest carbon saving we can have is still to create modal shift from road to rail and the fastest way to get more stopping services on our existing mainliines is to remove the InterCity trains and put them onto their own dedicated network. Just like Crossrail had to be built anyway, after central government dithered for decades, HS2 or something that does something very similar to HS2 will eventually have to be built. It's just a shame that the Tory Party is intentionally salting the earth, by selling off all the land bought for HS2, as they are creating a situation where not only will delaying HS2 will cost more (because that's just how things work), but there will be massive cost increases above and beyond that, because the "new owners" of HS2 land are all going to want to rip off as much public money as possible.

Has there ever been a study to relieve the WCML with a 'normal' railway line ? A sort of GC2 if you like. I have no idea how much money would have been saved by going that way, or if the network might even be a bit bigger and more versatile than the HS2 we have now ? What I do know is I should have invested in the High-Viz clothing industry.

It will be interesting when the frequent problems on the Elizabeth Line and GWML arise and people can’t get to and from OOC.