News on HS2 in Old Oak

HS2 takes seriously its role in being a good neighbour every single day. The health, safety and wellbeing of the communities along the route of the new railway, and our staff, remains our top priority.

We are continuing to work closely with our construction partners to review the works on our construction sites in line with Government and Public Health England (PHE) advice on dealing with COVID-19. The Government’s current COVID-19 strategy makes clear that construction activity should continue as long as it complies with this guidance.

The works detailed are going ahead as our contractors are confident that they can operate in line with PHE and industry guidance, protecting our staff and the communities in which they are working.

From Monday 27 April we will restart work at the Atlas Road, Victoria Road and Willesden Euroterminal sites. Details of the works are shown below:

Atlas Road Site

From Monday 27 April and during May, we will be carrying out the following works:

· Removal of concrete slabs from previous buildings

· Crushing of concrete slab materials

· Vegetation clearance

· Ground investigations

Works to remove the concrete slabs will take up to six weeks. Noise and dust mitigation will be used to reduce disruption to local residents.

Victoria Road sites

From Monday 27 April and during May, the following works are planned at the Victoria Road Crossover Box site:

• Excavation of ground materials

• Testing and removal of excavated materials

• Installing temporary platforms for piling equipment

• Vegetation clearance

We will continue to receive delivery of materials to the Victoria Road Tunnel Drive site, and will move the materials across the road to the Victoria Road Crossover Box site when required.

Willesden Euroterminal site

From Monday 27 April and during May, we will be carrying out the following works at this site:

• Concrete pours

• Work to strengthen hoardings

• Ground investigations

• Vegetation clearance

• Removal of concrete slab from old sub-station

Trial holes on Victoria Road

Further to our previous notification in March we will be carrying out utility investigations on Victoria Road from Monday 4 May for two weeks. The work will involve digging temporary trenches to confirm the location and depth of utilities under the road surface. The trenches will inform the route design of the electricity cables that will supply the power for the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). The TBM will create the tunnels for the HS2 trains.

A single lane with traffic management will be in place during these works and pedestrian access will be maintained throughout. We will erect screening with acoustic panels to help reduce noise. There will be no disruption to utility services because of these works.