The Transport Secretary, Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP, has given the green light for permanent works to begin at HS2’s west London ‘superhub’ station - Old Oak Common.

Work will commence with the construction of a 1.8km long underground diaphragm wall around what will become the station’s ‘underground box’, where six HS2 platforms will sit to accommodate trains serving the Midlands and the North.

Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary, said: "The start of permanent works at the largest train station ever built in the UK in one go, Old Oak Common, marks yet more progress in delivering HS2, the high-speed, high-capacity and low carbon railway that will form the backbone of our national transport network.

“This ‘super-hub’ station shows our Plan for Jobs in action - kickstarting major regeneration, creating 2,300 jobs and 250 apprenticeships in construction – and underlines this Government’s determination to Build Back Better."

There is a commitment to recruiting local candidates of all ages and backgrounds for the project.

Upon completion Old Oak Common station will offer fourteen new platforms; six HS2 platforms offering high speed services to the North and Midlands, four Crossrail – or Elizabeth Line – platforms, and four conventional rail platforms, which will be served by trains to Wales and the South West.

Following the first phase of construction to create the 750,000 sqm box, work on the eight overground platforms will begin. Over 1600 concrete piles will be installed into the ground on which the station superstructure and overground platforms will sit.

Mark Thurston, HS2 CEO, said: “The start of permanent works at Old Oak Common station, our first station under construction, is a significant step for Phase One of HS2, as we deliver world-leading engineering to create what will arguably be one of the best-connected railway super-hubs in the UK.

“Over 2,300 jobs will be supported to build the new station; part of the 22,000 jobs being created to build the new high-speed railway between London and the West Midlands, and emphasising the key role HS2 is playing in Britain’s economic recovery after the pandemic.”

With over 250,000 passengers using the station every day, Old Oak Common will become a vital transport hubs and a catalyst for economic regeneration for the area.  Plans to transform the wider area around the station, a former railway and industrial site, are being led by the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) and they project that tens of thousands of new jobs and homes will be created around the new HS2 station.