New £5,000,000,0000 Euston HS2 station will have four fewer platforms

The new HS2 Euston station will have six platforms, the government has confirmed.

After years of uncertainty over the faith of the HS2 project in London, its extension from Old Oak Common to Euston station was finally confirmed in October in the budget.

However, it has now emerged that the new station will have only six platforms for HS2 trains after Lord Hendy, the rail minister, confirmed the final figure, the Standard first reported.

Previous plans envisioned the station with 10 platforms.

When asked about the Euston HS2 station platforms and train capacity in the Commons on Monday, Lord Hendy responded: ‘The New HS2 station will consist of 6 platforms, which can support up to 10 HS2 trains per hour.

‘No decisions have been made on the train services that will run when HS2 opens, and this will be subject to future consultation.’

Rail campaigners have expressed concern over the impact this could have on passenger capacity.

Gareth Dennis, a rail engineer and author, said passengers will ‘lose out’ if Euston is not built to ‘unlock maximum possible capability.’

He told Metro: ‘The rest of HS2 will be built, if not by this government then by a future one. Losing the opportunity to build a large, spacious and resilient station in London will have massive impacts on the ability to run local and commuter services in the Midlands and the North for decades.

‘This must be reckoned with by this government, and they must be honest with the people outside of London that will lose out if Euston is not built to unlock the maximum possible capability of our emergent high speed network.

‘No HS2 land should be sold off, and unless there is a clear plan that integrates both the high speed and existing sites into one shared station with appropriate adjustments, this will kneecap our railway network for a generation or more, for the sake of only a percent or two of overall project costs.’

It comes after the previous plans in 2022 – before the Euston leg was temporarily paused in March – showed a ten-platform design.

Earlier, the new station was meant to have 11 platforms built over two phases, but this was cut down to ten in October 2021.

Old Oak Common station is set to have six platforms for HS2 trains and eight conventional train platforms.

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: ‘Taking HS2 to Euston is a key part of realising HS2’s contribution to national economic growth. Ensuring HS2 trains terminate in central London will also catalyse private investment into the station and local area.

‘We are working at pace to explore a range of options for Euston, including funding, and we will set out further details in due course.’

Map shows the HS2 extension to Euston

Rachel Reeves’s Autumn budget confirmed that the HS2 will run to Euston after all.

After years of uncertainty following the cancellation of the northern legs by the Conservative government, the HS2 line is now being built from Old Oak Common to Euston station via a tunnel.

Work to dig the 4.5-mile underground tunnel launched in early December when two giant tunnel boring machines were assembled at the starting point at Old Oak Common near Paddington.

They are expected to take around one and a half years to reach the HS2’s final southern terminus at Euston.

And passengers will have to wait even longer until they can board a shiny new HS2 train as the start date for service has not been confirmed yet.

After speculation whether the conventional Euston station and the new HS2 hub will come under one roof, Lord Hendy said last week there would be ‘one concourse for wherever you want to travel,’ the Standard reported.

Campaigners like Mr Dennis have previously called for one station to accommodate both conventional rail and HS2 services.

Camden Council has been pushing for ‘an integrated station’ which would ‘bring together plans for HS2, Network Rail and Underground stations.’

Network Rail has introduced measures to improve the passenger experience at the current Euston train station following a notice from the rail regulator and concerns over passenger safety.

Last week, Network Rail announced that the huge station concourse screens which were controversially turned into advertising boards before being switched off would be used to display train information.

Projected costs for the HS2 project have ballooned to £66,000,000,000, the latest progress report published by the Department for Transport shows.

This is up from the estimated £49,000,000,000 to £57,000,000,000 costs projection for phase one in November last year.

The overall spend to date – including on the since scrapped phase two – stands at £32,800,000,000.

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