Simon Calder, often known as The Man Who Pays His Manner, has been writing about journey for The Impartial since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key journey problem – and what it means for you.
Previous Oak Widespread is a scruffy, ill-defined space on the high finish of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, adjoining Wormwood Scrubs – itself ambitiously described as a nature reserve. Previous Oak Widespread can be the identify of the west London cease for Excessive Velocity 2 (HS2), the eye-wateringly costly new line between London Euston and Birmingham. I think about that, by the point the station opens, will probably be referred to as “West London Parkway”. But it surely gained’t transfer any nearer to the centre of the capital.
For some time on Friday morning it appeared that the ultimate six miles of the HS2 route from the West Midlands to the capital is likely to be scrapped altogether, as the price of the botched and delayed undertaking balloons by an indeterminate however boggling variety of billions. The chancellor later clarified that the road could be accomplished all the best way to London Euston.
Labour, in the meantime, has vowed to finish in full the primary UK high-speed rail line to go someplace aside from Kent or France. That features the leg to Leeds, which the present authorities scrapped. I might be holding Labour to its promise. However whichever occasion is in energy when HS2 lastly opens, we already know that the road will quickly terminate at Previous Oak Widespread.
A skeletal service will appropriately grind to a halt simply west of Kensal Inexperienced cemetery, in part of northwest London the place nearly nobody desires to be.
Three years in the past I wrote: “The present expectation is for a token service of three trains an hour between Previous Oak Widespread and Birmingham Curzon Road, beginning a while between 2029 and 2033, with 10 trains an hour from Euston between 2031 and 2036.”
Since then, the beginning dates have slipped alarmingly, however the lengthy anticipate the ultimate miles to Euston will stay.
“Genuinely touching gesture by the Authorities,” tweeted Professor Anand Menon on Friday. ”Stick on a bus substitute service from Previous Oak frequent, and people northerners arriving on HS2 will really feel proper at residence as they strategy central London.”
In truth, the Elizabeth Line – one other mega-project that got here in years late and billions over finances – will take the pressure. I confidently predicted that whoever has the poisoned chalice of transport secretary when HS2 lastly begins rolling will clarify how marvellous it’s to step from a 225mph categorical to an all-stations-to-Essex suburban service via central London. However different places with out-of-town rail stations present how silly and annoying it’s to drive inter-city travellers to change to a different service to achieve the centre.
The French are keen on finding stops on high-speed traces pretty randomly after which adopting a “Ryanair” strategy to placenames (Europe’s largest finances airline has lengthy been formidable in naming a number of the less-celebrated airports). “Aix-en-Provence TGV” is considerably nearer to Marseille airport than it’s to Cezanne’s residence city.
A few of Australasia’s inter-city stations are equally unhelpful. The Indian-Pacific from Perth to Sydney begins its interminable journey from a glorified bus station, East Perth Terminal, an excellent seven miles from the ocean. At Adelaide, the Indian-Pacific meets three different long-distance trains – the Ghan, the Nice Southern and the Overland – within the southeastern suburb of Keswick relatively than the good-looking metropolis centre. And throughout in New Zealand, the wonderful TranzAlpine journey throughout South Island from Greymouth by way of Arthur’s Move ends ignominiously at Christchurch station – squashed between a second-hand automotive supplier and Tower Junction out-of-town procuring centre.
The US has pressed the self-destruct button on lots of its magnificent stations; to board an categorical from Detroit to Chicago final summer season, I needed to take a tram a number of miles north from the guts of the “Motor Metropolis” and stand round at a single-platform halt. Inter-city rail journeys shouldn’t be inter-suburban. Travellers deserve, and demand, higher.
