The HS2 pain is going to continue for a decade longer than first scheduled

HIGH Speed 2 construction work in Euston appeared to be grinding to a halt this week amid concerns that the huge 60-acre site could be mothballed after the government announced significant delays to the project at the Camden end.

Amid spiralling costs, transport Secretary Mark Harper has for the first time said that the “high speed” line – officially billed at £109billion – is now expected to open between Birmingham and Old Oak Common in west London before the planned terminus Euston is built.

HS2 engineers have been told to focus their energies away from Camden despite the borough already bearing the brunt of large scale demolition and disruption. Meanwhile, the main architects team working on the latest Euston station design have been stood down.

The project to bring HS2 to Euston is now running on the same timeline as plans to build a new station in Manchester – currently scheduled for completion in 2041 at the earliest.

The new target date is a decade later than the last official estimate and would ultimately mean more than 25 years has been spent trying to build an HS2 railway into Euston.

This would outstrip the time taken to create some of the wonders of the world, like Egypt’s Pyramid of Giza.

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Holborn and St Pancras MP Sir Keir Starmer – the leader of the Labour Party – told the New Journal: “Conservative chaos and chronic indecision on HS2 is holding back jobs, growth and costing the taxpayer.

“Euston should be at the centre of the largest infrastructure project in Europe, but after 13 years of this dysfunctional government it risks being turned into a partially abandoned building site.

“This would be a disaster for residents who have already had to endure years of demolitions, noise and dust.”

Camden Council leader Georgia Gould has now called for the 60 acres site – valued around £6billion – to be opened up for community-uses during the delay.

Several residents in blocks overlooking the main construction site have contacted the New Journal to say that works have slowed to almost a standstill since the announcement last week.

Speaking on Tuesday, Margaret Haines, a London Zoo keeper who has lived in Cartmel since the 1990s, said: “Nothing seems to be moving on the site really now. There are a lot of men in orange high-viz milling around carrying equipment. But it looks like things have halted, and everyone there is just going through the motions.”

Ms Haines, who said she feared she would be “six feet under” by the time HS2 was finished, said: “We are all wondering what this is going to mean for the devastated area here.”

Ms Haines is one of a few remaining residents still living in three blocks that have been called “virtually uninhabitable” by the council because of proximity to HS2 dust and noise. In her 60s, she is still waiting for firm details of a buy-out of her lease by Camden Council after funding to help residents move out was secured from the Department for Transport in January.

She spoke about how the “mess” of diversions, road closures and bus stop closures caused by HS2 has meant long walks for people living in the blocks to get their shopping.

HS2 in Camden has seen the demolition of hundreds of people’s homes, the exhumation of tens of thousands of graves, the closure of a public park and the infill of several open spaces on the Regent’s Park estate used to build replacement blocks of housing.  Businesses like the Bree Louise pub were seized and crushed with a wrecking ball.

Mohammed Salique, who grew up in Drummond Street and ran the Diwana restaurant for decades, said: “HS2 has been a terrible waste of money and waste of resources. I go around the area and just think, this is mad – what has happened to it. Business is dead now. And then Covid killed it off.”

Despite MPs from both main political parties repeatedly voting in favour of legislation enabling HS2 in Camden, there has never been any detailed design for the new station in Euston or regeneration of the area beyond the rail works.

The closest thing to any detail is the Euston Area Plan (EAP) – a set of guidelines for the area agreed by Camden, the Greater London Authority, HS2 Ltd, and the Department for Transport. The latest draft of this document suggests homes built on the site will be significantly reduced, from the previous estimate of 2,800 to 1,500.

Holborn and St Pancras MP Sir Keir Starmer

At the same time the number of office and retail units has been significantly increased.

Robert Latham, who has a home in Park Village East, is concerned that the priorities of a private developer Lend Lease – which is designated as HS2’s Euston Area Masterplanner – have been too easily adopted by the publicly-funded bodies who have drawn up the EAP.

He said: “The minister’s statement that  HS2 into Euston will be pushed back to the 2040s is horrendous. Will we live in a construction site for the rest of my life?”

Cllr Gould said: “What we can’t have is a partially abandoned building site, with huge areas fenced off creating a barrier between our communities, and a general stagnation which leads to opportunities being lost. Instead, HS2 Ltd need to make sure they open up the site where it is safe to do so and work with our communities on how they can be used during any delay.”

Mr Harper said at a press conference last Thursday said: “We will take the time to ensure we have an affordable and deliverable station design, delivering Euston alongside high-speed infrastructure to Manchester.”

An HS2 spokesperson said it welcomed the government’s “commitment to delivering HS2 from Euston to Manchester” and that it had “been transparent about our cost challenges, and has worked closely with the government to reach a solution which ensures we continue to boost regional economies, support the drive to net-zero and better connect our towns and cities”

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