Council leader hails ‘new future’ as HS2 heads for Euston

Council leader Richard Olszewski has declared that Camden is set for a “new chapter” after the government pledged that the HS2 railway line would reach Euston.

Following a year of uncertainty for the borough, Chancellor Rachel Reeves this week committed funding for the high-speed line to end at the central London station.

In a statement published shortly after, Cllr Olszewski (Labour) said: “This is an opportunity to start a new chapter, and it means that we can begin to take the necessary steps towards transforming Euston into a thriving place.

“It helps us clarify a future for Euston, and the communities that live around it. Our residents and businesses have faced 14 years of blight, lost homes and livelihoods to HS2.

“We owe it to them to deliver genuine change and a lasting legacy in Euston—and we know what the future can be: thousands of new jobs, the restoration of lost green spaces, and the building of much needed affordable homes and community facilities—all delivered alongside a new station.”

When former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak scrapped the northern leg of HS2 just over a year ago, he said the rail project’s extension to the Euston terminus would need private investment or would have to end at Old Oak Common.

Sunak claimed this would save the taxpayer £6.5bn.

Reeves has now committed to paying for construction work with the aim of driving private investment into the local area and “delivering jobs and growth”.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Olszewski said this “new future” could bring “up to £34,000 jobs, 2,500 new homes, more open spaces and wider community benefits”.

The 7.2km tunnel being built between Euston and Old Oak Common has seen numerous delays.

In March 2023, the Camden’s then council leader Georgia Gould told the Department for Transport (DfT) that the borough could not tolerate 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”.

Due to funding uncertainty, the excavation works at the tunnel construction site between Parkway and Hampstead Road have been on hold since March.

In July, HS2 also reported that the previous government’s decision to axe plans for five new platforms at Euston Station cost taxpayers over £150m.

The new government has not confirmed whether it will stick to the streamlined six-platform terminus, or return to the original design for 11 platforms.

Cllr Camron Aref-Adib, cabinet member for finance and cost-of-living, joined his leader in heaping praise on the Chancellor’s pledge, along with her other plans for Britain’s finances, on social media.

This was “a budget that delivers for local government and Camden: [a] 3.2 per cent real terms increase, [the] extension of household support fund, HS2 to Euston, reform of Right to Buy, [and a] £500m top-up of Affordable Homes,” he wrote in a post on X.

The Citizen understands a full response to Reeves’ tax and spending plans is to be delivered by Cllr Olszewski to the chamber at the next full council meeting on 18 November.