The foundations for Britain’s newest high-speed railway station at Old Oak Common, London, have now been completed, marking a significant milestone in the HS2 project.
The 850-metre-long underground station base, which will accommodate six platforms for high-speed trains, has been constructed using 76,000 cubic metres of concrete and 17,000 tonnes of reinforced steel. The base slab, covering an area of 45,000 square metres—equivalent to more than six football pitches—reaches up to nearly two metres thick at its deepest point. Construction began in April 2023 and required 91 separate concrete pours to complete.
The station is being developed by the Balfour Beatty Vinci Systra (BBVS) joint venture. At peak construction, up to 50 steel fixers and 20 joiners worked alongside engineers to complete the slab.
The completion of the base slab marks a key step in the creation of this major new transport hub for London and the UK. Once finished, Old Oak Common station will be one of the best connected in the country, with six underground platforms enabling high-speed services to central London, the West Midlands, and further north. In addition, eight surface-level platforms will provide an interchange to the Great Western Railway, Elizabeth Line, and Heathrow Express.
“Completing the base slab of the underground station box is a key milestone in building HS2’s new super hub station in West London. This is the final stage in completing the foundations for the high-speed station, and will be where HS2 tracks are laid, platforms are constructed and the station building and roof and built above. At Old Oak Common we are making significant progress in building this state of the art, environmentally friendly, transport hub which will be a key part of the HS2 route,” HS2’s Project Client for Old Oak Common, Peter Gow, said.
The excavation of the box was finished in the summer of 2024, with 1.3 million tonnes of London clay removed by subcontractor Expanded. To build the base slab, layers of drainage materials were laid before the reinforcement layer was installed by hand. Finally, concrete was poured to complete the foundation for the high-speed station area.
London Concrete, part of the Holcim Group, supplied the concrete used on site. Over 90% of the concrete was produced locally, reducing the need for lorry movements and minimising CO2 emissions. The use of low-carbon ECOPact concrete supports the goal of reducing carbon emissions in construction. As a result, the station has been awarded BREEAM Outstanding status, placing it in the top 1% of environmentally friendly buildings in the UK.
“With the completion of the base slab, we have achieved another significant milestone at Old Oak Common. In less than two years, we have carried out 91 concrete pours of between 600m3 and 1 000m3 each. Logistically, this has been a huge undertaking, requiring detailed planning and collaboration between HS2, Balfour Beatty Vinci Systra and our supply chain partners,” Steve O’Sullivan, Project Director for Balfour Beatty Vinci Systra, said.
Construction of the six HS2 service platforms is now underway, with wall frameworks being installed for concrete pouring. The platform slabs are being manufactured in Worksop by Explore, with installation set to begin this spring. Meanwhile, work is progressing on the ground floor of the station, preparing the site for the building’s superstructure.
Tunnelling to connect the station to the HS2 network is being carried out by HS2’s London tunnels contractor, Skanska Costain STRABAG JV. In the eastern section of the box, two large tunnelling machines are being launched towards Euston, while excavation in the western side will be carried out using sprayed concrete lining.
Old Oak Common station is located on land previously used for railway depots, situated between the Elizabeth Line depot and the Great Western Mainline, which is being realigned to allow trains from these lines, as well as the Heathrow Express, to call at the station.
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