Construction of HS2’s station at Old Oak Common is continuing at pace with the station box taking shape as workers complete the first base slab concrete pour at the western end.

The 850m station box reaches 20m below ground and is where the six platforms for HS2 trains will be located.

Approximately 80,000m3  of spoil in the west box has been excavated by HS2’s station contractor, Balfour Beatty Vinci SYSTRA joint venture (BBVS JV) and is being transported to HS2’s London logistics hub at Willesden Euroterminal via a conveyor system. From there, the spoil is taken by rail for reuse in Kent, Cambridgeshire and Rugby.

Once the west box is complete, it will be handed over to HS2’s London Tunnels contractor to prepare for tunnel work between Old Oak Common and Victoria Road Crossover Box with breakthrough expected in late 2024.

The station will have 14 new platforms: six HS2 platforms offering high speed services to the north and Midlands, four Elizabeth Line platforms, and four platforms for the Great Western Mainline, which will be served by trains to Wales and the south-west.

Huw Edwards, HS2’s project client for Old Oak Common, said: "Work to build HS2’s super-hub station in west London is in full swing, and we are gaining momentum, reaching our construction milestones on site. This first concrete pour of the station box base slab means that we have now reached the HS2 track level and can continue to work eastwards to build the foundations for the HS2 operational services.

“Once complete, HS2’s Old Oak Common Station will be one of the UK’s best connected transport hubs, and will be a catalyst for economic development, the creation of new homes, jobs and spaces for the local community.”

Nigel Russell, project director for BBVS JV, said: “The successful completion of the first concrete base pour for the station box at Old Oak Common marks a significant milestone in the progress being made across the HS2 project.

“We now look forward to excavating the eastern section of the station box at Old Oak Common, which on completion, will become one of Britain’s largest, best connected and most sustainable railway stations.”

BBVS JV began permanent works for the station box in June 2021, with the first diaphragm wall (D-Wall) and piling activity taking place on the site. The work was completed in March this year, after BBVS’s contractor SB3 installed the last of 275 D-Wall panels and 161 bearing piles, completing the 1.8km long wall.

Work to begin constructing platforms for the ground level platforms, to be used by the Elizabeth Line and Great Western Mainline services, will begin later this year.