The future of High Speed 2 is seemingly forever under threat, the latest proposal being that it should run only between not-quite-central Birmingham and not-quite-central London. But would it really be so terrible to terminate the line at Old Oak Common rather than Euston, saving billions, especially when there's a perfectly adequate walking route between the two? Let me show you how simple a connection it would be. Long-term decisions for a brighter future!
Old Oak Common is the perfect terminus for a high speed rail link, especially if you live in Harlesden. It's a vast obsolete rail depot ripe with development potential and also crisscrossed by numerous other railway lines, none of which yet have a station here. But that lack of connectivity won't be a problem when HS2 arrives because taxpayers will be better off and car drivers won't be inconvenienced, plus it's only a short walk from Euston. All you have to do is follow an approximate straight line eastwards on foot, as any business traveller would, taking just two more hours to reach your ultimate destination and maintaining all the timely benefits of the high speed line.
We start on Old Oak Common Lane, a name which still evokes a peaceful rural ambience rather than clustered hardhats and lorries stuck in contraflow. We could choose to cross the outer wastes of Wormwood Scrubs in sight of its Victorian prison but by far the most efficient route is to follow the towpath of the Grand Union Canal instead. This speedy pedestrian-friendly walkway could almost have been purpose-built, avoiding as it does all major roads and built-up areas. At present the verge is alive with Michaelmas daisies, brambles and dandelions, and the water of the canal is adorned with empty lager cans bobbing in vibrant green pondweed. Look, you can already see the BT Tower in the distance so Euston can't be that far away.
Just over the wall is the main Crossrail depot where all the out-of-service trains go to recuperate. It would be dead easy to add a platform to shuttle passengers into central London, but also much too expensive in these austere times so best watch them sail past empty as they head off to form the next train to Shenfield. Landmarks to enjoy along the towpath include used car empires, the backside of a cemetery and an electricity substation which marginally resembles the Snowdon Aviary. The path is entirely unlit, so perhaps not ideal after dark, and also includes several long stretches lacking any escape route should ne'erdowells intrude. But anyone who arrives on HS2 from Birmingham will no doubt be familiar with desolate canals through semi-derelict hinterlands so should thoroughly enjoy the vibe.
The towpath gets quite steep near Kensal Green Sainsbury's as it crosses a couple of former wharves, but remains step-free so anyone lugging suitcases ought to be able to cope. Things get a little more built-up as we enter Kensington & Chelsea so expect a greater chance of sniffing weed or stepping in dogmess. The Lucky Bean cafe offers canalside passers-by a special 'breakfast bun and filter coffee' deal for just £5.50, but best not rest yet. It'll have taken you about 42 minutes to walk this far which by coincidence is also how long the HS2 journey from Birmingham to Old Oak Common is scheduled to take, so we really are zipping along here.
You could continue along the canal and the Euston Road but that's merely the most straight-forward route, not the most direct, so instead we'll be bearing off here via the spiral footbridge. This delivers you to a bus stop served by route 18, a double decker providing a direct connection to Euston station. You could take that all the way to your destination but won't you look at the queue to board, and the traffic looks to be seriously backed up ahead, and given we've started out on foot it would be an abdication of responsibility to bow out now. Harrow Road is also the liveliest shopping street on our walk, the ideal place to buy a hookah, vinyl flooring, wet fish, a bowl of pomegranates or a fridge, so certainly shouldn't be missed.
The direct route east requires diverting up Elgin Avenue, a broad thoroughfare with easy-to manage pavements. Its villas are all divided into somewhat faded flats, although they get less faded the more we pass from Maida Hill to Maida Vale. At the walk's halfway point we bear right onto Lauderdale Road, a smarter proposition lined by mansion blocks, each of which boasts its own Porter's Flat on the ground floor. Sir Alec Guinness was born in one of these, as a blue plaque attests, and you'd never have seen this miraculous spot had the government wimped out and constructed a direct train connection. Sir Alec's local shopping parade is rightly quite posh and is anchored by a florist offering a £25 weekly subscription service because people round here have disposable income, we're not in Balsall Heath any more.
It's time to mosey down to St John's Wood Road, either past the Esso garage or the Tesco Express, it doesn't matter so long as you end up by Lord's Cricket ground. You won't see much of it from the outside, only the Lord's Tavern, a lot of railings and a snatch of the pitch through the slats of a fire escape. But it remains a global icon so expect to encounter groups of grinning tourists posing in front of the gates just to say they've been here, and now so have you, solely because nobody could be bothered to complete a high speed link. As an HS2 user embracing the walking option, that Chiltern train passing under the Nursery Pavilion likely left central Birmingham half an hour after you did.
Welcome to the splendours of Regent's Park, entering via the Hanover Gate and heading quickly over to the boating lake. This looks lovely and inviting but is in fact really annoying because we'd be able to follow a much more direct walking route if the water wasn't there. Instead we trace the northern edge past a gushing fountain and the boat house before dodging a game of women's football on an outer pitch. It'd be nice to pass through the rose garden, which hasn't quite tipped over into autumn yet, but the optimum route is to follow the Inner Circle and turn left at the allotments. In good news if you came down from the West Midlands to enjoy the Frieze Art Fair you're already here without ever needing to go to Euston.
They say London thrives on rich and poor living side by side and it doesn't get much clearer than on the far side of the park. Chester Terrace is a stunning neo-classical terrace bookended by Corinthian arches, whose 42 luxurious residences were shaped by John Nash and Decimus Burton. The average property price here is 12 million pounds. But immediately behind this cream edifice is the Regent's Park estate, a complex complex of 2000 postwar council homes, the odd tower block and some windblown grass. Weaving your way through this social labyrinth will lower your aspirations considerably. But oh my word, what's that devastation ahead?... a huge swathe of land on either side of Hampstead Road demolished and laid bare.
It's like an inner city void that's been erased and abandoned, an empty depression where construction work has halted leaving the future of an entire neighbourhood in limbo. And so this walking route from Old Oak Common is forced to funnel between gaudy hoardings across a mothballed abyss, dodging hi-vis security and uniformed staff nipping out for a smoke, before entering the backside of Euston station through a grim door labelled Fire Escape. Whatever they're building here they should hurry up and finish because it really lowers the tone, plus it totally slows down the end of the journey, plus the whole thing's just ridiculous with this part missing. Perhaps HS2 with a six mile walk at the end is a really dumb idea after all.
