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HS2 work to bring a 'decade of chaos' for train passengers

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Millions of passengers using the main train routes to the West Midlands face a decade of 'chaos' and disruption caused by work on HS2, damning papers have revealed.

moreUp to four out of 10 trains risk running late between 2016 and 2026 as preparation and construction work is carried out at Euston station in London as part of the proposed £50 billion high-speed project.

Details have emerged from documents obtained following a series of Freedom of Information requests by campaigners at the HS2 Action Alliance.

Campaigners against the scheme say that problems unearthed are just 'the tip of the iceberg'.

The documents reveal that disruption to services for at least ten years from December 2016, that fewer than 60 per cent of long-distance services will arrive on time and that there will be 'significant' weekend and Bank Holiday closures with widespread disruption in holiday periods including Christmas.

They also claim that platform numbers at Euston will be reduced from 18 to 13, with the number of approach tracks reduced from six to four.

Virgin train services will have to leave Euston just 25 minutes after arrival, leaving little time for servicing and cleaning.

And construction could result in a reduction in Birmingham and Manchester trains from three to two an hour.

Richard Houghton of HS2 Action Alliance, said: "We believe these FOI revelations are providing a very strong sense of what might be in the Major Projects Authority report into HS2 – commissioned by government, but blocked from publication by Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin using laws usually reserved to maintain secrecy during wartime.

"We wonder how many more secrets are hidden, and are there to be uncovered by Freedom of Information requests or legal requirement. HS2 will, from the moment spades go in the ground, be very likely to needlessly create the very sort of chaos and capacity crisis it is proposed to avoid. It will put rail travel back 30 years.

"Euston would overnight be operating on a knife-edge, with absolutely no room for error – or for recovery if something goes wrong," he added.

"Everybody is aware of the type of chaos that erupts if Heathrow, which runs at 99 per cent capacity, suffers any sort of issue – whether incident or bad weather."

But a spokesman for HS2 said: "We cannot continue to patch and mend our Victorian railway.

"We need to take the bold decisions now to secure our infrastructure into the next century. HS2 will be a vital artery benefiting communities right across the country."