The planning application will now be considered by OPDC and a decision is expected by summer 2020.
The Old Oak Common station will provide an interchange between HS2 and the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail), taking passengers to Heathrow and central London, and trains to Wales and the west of England. Old Oak & Park Royal is itself one of the largest regeneration sites in the UK. Plans to transform the wider area around the station, a former railway and industrial site, are being led by OPDC.
The station design has been led by consulting engineer WSP and architect WilkinsonEyre.
The Schedule 17 submission is the next stage in the development of the site, following on from public consultation last year.
Designs for the station show that the six high-speed platforms will be underground with an integrated connection to the adjoining conventional station at ground level via a shared overbridge.
The six 450-metre HS2 platforms will be built in an 850-metre long underground box, with twin tunnels taking high speed trains east to the Euston terminus and west to the outskirts of London. Material excavated during work on the tunnels will be removed by rail from the nearby former Willesden Euroterminal depot.
WilkinsonEyre project director Bosco Lam said: “Our architectural approach is inspired by the rich history of the site and its railway heritage. The station unifies the various connecting railways under a single roof, a series of interlocking arched vaults which break down the volume to a more human scale and celebrate the structural engineering as a fundamental part of the architecture. The dramatic volumes underneath have open and clear sightlines that promote intuitive wayfinding for users, and allow natural light and visual links outwards to the present and future context.”
The submission also includes an application to lower and widen Old Oak Common Lane, which will improve access to the station for buses and pedestrians.
Work at Old Oak Common to prepare for construction of the station has been taking place since 2017 and the site is nearly ready to be handed over to the construction team of Balfour Beatty Vinci Systra JV (BBVS), which was awarded the £1bn station contract last September. HS2’s enabling works contractor, Costain Skanska JV (CSJV), and its subcontractors have so far moved 32,000 m3 of former rail depot sheds and outbuildings, working through 105,000 m3 of earth to clear the site and remove any contamination built up over a century of continuous railway use.
HS2 stations director Matthew Botelle said: “Significant progress is already being made at Old Oak Common with site clearance ready for station construction to start. The Schedule 17 submission is the next step in HS2’s delivery of a world class railway, with landmark station architecture designed with future passengers in mind.
“HS2 will transform Old Oak Common, and will be the key to unlocking thousands of new jobs and homes around what will be the UK’s best connected transport hub.”
WSP project director Adrian Tooth added: “Old Oak Common has been designed to be a landmark destination within the UK’s transport network and will be a force for regeneration in West London, supporting new jobs and homes within the wider OPDC area. The design responds to the station’s function, as two-thirds of those using the station will be interchanging between the below ground HS2 and the above ground conventional rail services.”
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