Sadiq Khan responds to government's plan to scrap HS2

Transcript

00:00 This is Old Oak Common. We have the Elizabeth Line depot here. We have trains running to

00:06 the West Country. We have the London Overground only a few yards away at Walesden Junction.

00:12 And by around 2030 we should have the HS2 high speed trains. But the issue here is whether

00:19 these high speed trains will ever make it beyond Old Oak Common into Euston Station.

00:24 The government has paused the work at Euston for a redesign to look at cheaper options.

00:29 But if HS2 didn't happen it would need a fundamental rethink. The residents in that

00:34 area have already gone through the best part of a decades worth of pain in terms of what's

00:39 been delivered to this point. But to not then see HS2 realised would be criminal. And as

00:44 I say there's a central case around HS2. It's all that you're enabling those people from

00:49 the North to come right into central London. That's what drives the regeneration benefits

00:53 this scheme can deliver. I'm astonished the government's seriously considering stopping

00:57 the building of a high speed station at Euston. What it would mean is that Old Oak Common

01:02 would become the permanent terminus. It would reduce the frequency of HS2 trains coming

01:09 because Old Oak Common can only take 6 trains an hour. Whereas Euston would take anything

01:14 from 11 upwards. So a reduced number of people coming to London using high speed to also

01:21 bear in mind there wouldn't be a connection north of Birmingham. We're trying to redevelop

01:25 Old Oak Common so there's more homes, more business location. I'm afraid some of the

01:31 space we need for that would be taken up by trains turning around from here going back

01:35 to Birmingham. But also it begs the question what would be the point of HS2. If you just

01:42 check the journey time from Euston to Birmingham New Street is roughly speaking 1 hour 21.

01:49 The journey time from Birmingham Curzon Street to central London, Euston, would become to

01:53 Old Oak Common. Try and find a space on the Elizabeth line. Get to Tottenham Court Road,

01:58 try and find a space on the Northern line. Get to Euston, it takes longer than it takes

02:03 from Birmingham to Euston currently. So I'm not sure what the purpose would be. But speaking

02:08 to TfL engineers over the weekend, their worry is increased congestion on the Elizabeth line.

02:14 And so people may be waiting up to 10 minutes on the platform to get on the line. And so

02:19 I'm not sure if the government's really thought this through.