Prepare for the next instalment of the great HS2 fiasco. Stories suggest the chancellor is preparing to shuffle the off-balance sheet financing deck, find £1bn-plus and give a thumbs up to start boring the tunnel from Old Oak Common to Euston. That decision will be motivated mainly by the sense that the high-speed line, already stripped of its northern legs by Rishi Sunak, would be even more of a national embarrassment if southbound passengers had to hop off at an industrial estate five miles west of central London.
But, if the tunnel is a go, we’re on to the far trickier question of what is to be done with Euston station. Sunak’s other HS2 gift a year ago was to leave a sketch of an idea that few thought would fly. Developers would be recruited to build a stripped-down HS2 terminus. They would “unleash” private-sector money to build offices, shops and houses at the site “to ensure we get the best possible value for the British taxpayer”. Sunak’s “Network North” document from October 2023 made comparisons with the redevelopments of Battersea power station and Nine Elms.
