One concern about HS2 and Euston, which has cropped up time and again, is what will happen to the extra passengers that HS2 brings to Euston. Euston is already overcrowded and adding on passengers from Phase 2 of HS2, who would otherwise have traveled to Kings Cross and St Pancras, will just increase overcrowding.
This concern was expressed again yesterday, by the London transport commissioner, Sir Peter Hendy, at the launch of the London Infrastructure Plan 2050.
The Guardian reports:
“If HS2 gets there before Crossrail 2, there will an awful lot of people walking around [Euston] because they won’t be able to get on the tube,” Hendy said.
But the issues around HS2 are not limited to overcrowding at Euston.
There are whole questions around HS2’s connectivity in London. HS2 does not connect to any existing London airport: travelling to Heathrow will involve a change of trains at Old Oak Common. If the proposed “estuary airport” were to be built, HS2 would not connect to that. The original HS2 plans did not include a link to HS1, and the retrofitted HS1-HS2 link using the North London Line proved unfeasible.
But even the idea of using Euston as the main London station could be questioned.
Yesterday Boris Johnson also pointed out that the London’s geography would shift eastwards, with Barking being as busy as Piccadilly Circus in 100 years time.
If HS2 had been developed with an eye on the future, then the designers would have paid more attention to where people in the future will want to get to. With the developments in the Docklands, and increasing numbers of businesses located there, then the designers would have seriously considered a new East London station for HS2.
We don’t think HS2 is necessary, but regardless of that, HS2 was badly designed from the start.
Mike Smitth has died. Mike and two other people flew HS2 Route 3 in mid 2011 to provide the video material which clearly showed the heartache and damage HS2 Phase 1 Route 3 was to cause.
This was the first aerial material and was used by two organisations with help from a University and presented to HS2 and MPs.
When the lack of interest in adjustments followed and the extent of influences on villages and roads became more apparent it was only too clear that HS2 had no real interest in changes and addressing of limitations.
Mike was concerned about the impacts on Denham and the water sports centre.
Mike was a true professional who had started again to make videos for TV organisations and to meet the requirements of specific people and organisations. A sad loss to a person who with others saw the damaging location of HS2 Route 3 Phase 1 first hand from the air and near where he worked in Denham. Our thoughts are will the person who having been injured in a helicopter crash rose above the fears and anxieties and flew regularly doing a great job contributing to informing the nation professionally.