"Plans to create thousands of new homes and jobs in a rundown corner of north-west London have received a huge boost.
"Legislation paving the way for the development of the High Speed 2 railway was announced in Wednesday's Queen's Speech.
"A bill would grant parliamentary permission to build phase one of the £16.3bn line from London to Birmingham.
"A huge new rail hub at Old Oak Common, in the north of Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F), will be the main interchange station for passengers wanting to transfer from the new high speed railway to Heathrow.
"Around 20,000 jobs will be created in the immediate area – which is one of the capital’s most deprived neighbourhoods. Around half of working age adults within 1.2miles of Old Oak Common, including residents in the neighbouring boroughs of Brent, Ealing and K&C, are unemployed and some parts of the area are among the bottom 1% most deprived nationally.
"Around a third of all HS2 passengers are expected to transfer at Old Oak Common and the hub will also take pressure off Euston, which as it stands could not cope with 13,000 extra passengers an hour.
"H&F Council Leader, Cllr Nicholas Botterill said:
“This is a real shot in the arm for our plans to regenerate Old Oak Common. Old Oak will be transformed from one of the most deprived parts of the country into the epicentre of nation’s high speed network, linking the regions of the UK with Heathrow, the capital and beyond." [That's enough gushing, Nic.]"Running at speeds of up to 250mph, HS2 trains will virtually halve journey times between London and Manchester from two hours and eight minutes to one hour and eight minutes, according to the Department for Transport. Passengers will be able to travel from London to Birmingham in just 49 minutes – down from one hour and 24 minutes currently."
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