The Department for Transport’s (DfT’s) decision to order a redesign of High Speed 2’s (HS2’s) Euston station has renewed fears that the line’s Eastern leg to Leeds is about to be axed (see Twitter reaction below). It has even led some – primarily Lord Berkeley – to again question the rationale of running trains to Euston at all. Lord Berkeley was deputy chairman of the government commissioned, independent Oakervee review of the project.
But those much closer to the project claim that is “nonsense” and insist that a scaled back Euston station does not lessen the need to deliver HS2 as planned and in full. As revealed by NCE last week, the DfT has ordered HS2 Ltd’s design team to scale back plans for Euston, following recommendations in the Oakervee review to “de-scope” the London terminus. The DfT insists that this will have no bearing on HS2’s eastern leg to Leeds.
As well as reducing the number of platforms from 11 to 10, the DfT has instructed the design team to scrap the two stage construction programme and draw up plans to get the entire HS2 station built in a single phase.
Grimshaw and Arup won the Euston concept design job in 2012 but were replaced by WilkinsonEyre with WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff in February 2017. The original team was brought back for the detailed design work a year later, with more than £100M already spent on Euston station’s design.
A source close to the project told NCE that scaling back Euston station will have “no impact whatsoever” on the wider HS2 route or scheme. But the insider conceded that HS2 services would be under increased strain with less margin for error in terms of delays or complications to running the service.