LREF: Currently London’s most forlorn station, Euston will see its significance increase massively and will be transformed by infrastructure projects such as HS2 and Crossrail 1 and 2.
The chief uncertainty is whether its potential to change the surrounding area can be harnessed.
The combined effect of St Pancras and Euston stations will be to bring in 30m passengers per year by 2030, according to Savills’ David Williams. By 2033 HS2 will link Manchester and Leeds, adding another 30m passengers at a peak rate of 18,500 per hour in what Williams called “passenger input like no other”.
Realising the full potential of this traffic requires that a “level deck solution” to the station redevelopment is used so that all tracks new and existing lie alongside each other, according to Camden council’s Ed Watson. However, Watson said that the solution would be considered viable only if the wider area benefits were included in the calculation.
David Partridge of Argent agreed, saying: “A single deck is fundamental.”
Plans for Euston are drawing inspiration from development of the hinterland of nearby King’s Cross, and Partridge, whose company Argent was developer of that project, said that an integrated mixed-use development and a public-private partnership agreed early on were critical.
“To make sure that it happens, a long and intense period of consultation is required,” Partridge also said.
