The new district at Old Oak Common, supported by the planned infrastructure, is poised for exponential growth: it will be accessible to Euston in 10 minutes, as will be both Bond Street and Heathrow, Birmingham in 38 minutes and Bristol in 1hr 30 minutes⁵. Old Oak itself will provide 8,000 homes, 1,500 of which will be targeted in Phase 1 as the most immediate delivery priority, as well as up to 200,000 sq m of commercial and community accommodation across 70 acres - of which 30% will be public open space⁶. An illustrative Allies & Morrison masterplan framework, with the support of the OPDC board, is currently in place to set out the vision for the area. The masterplan encompasses a mixed-use scheme centred around focal points including the HS2 Station, Acton North and Old Oak Common, with a heavy focus on integrating green residential neighbourhoods to a bustling town centre via high quality public realm in this currently isolated corner of West London. Please see figure 3 below for a map of the first phase of the development. 

In total, Old Oak is set to include 8,000 new homes (including affordable), with a long-term target by 2050 of 25,500 across the wider OPDC development area, of which 50% of those on government land will be affordable¹³. This is to be supplemented by over 2 million square feet of commercial and community accommodation, the majority of which will be concentrated by the plaza alongside Old Oak Common Station¹⁴. 

In terms of the stations, Old Oak Common itself has been subject to £1.7bn of investment¹⁵, and will be the largest sub-surface station ever to be built in the UK with a public plaza twice the size of Trafalgar Square¹⁶. 

Flanking this enormous project are two more modest proposed stations, not to be funded by HS2 themselves. We shall begin with the more promising: Old Oak Common Lane Station would be located approximately 300m to the west of Old Oak Common Station, and would allow internal connections for West London commuter passengers from the Mildmay and proposed West London Orbital lines to HS2 and Elizabeth Line services into Central London¹⁷. It is deemed by Transport for London (TfL) as holding a good transport case¹⁸, but similarly to the other three proposed new West London Orbital line stations - Neasden, Harlesden and Lionel Road - is heavily dependent on government funding¹⁹. Notably, the West London Orbital line has recently seen £6.65M pooled by the OPDC, TfL, and four London Boroughs in order to further the business case²⁰, which is assisted by the line’s proposed route along existing underutilised rail links, minimising potential costs. Hythe Road, meanwhile, seems to be more problematic: whilst it is supported conceptually by the OPDC in placemaking terms, the transport case is deemed insufficient by TfL to warrant funding²¹, so our view is that its creation is unlikely. 

Whilst the assembly of a site of this size and complexity is always going to be challenging in London, the Old Oak Common development benefits from substantial initial public sector and stakeholder presence in the development area. Nevertheless, the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation Compulsory Purchase Order 2025 (henceforth ‘CPO’) was issued on the 12th of September 2025 and is currently awaiting ratification²⁷. The CPO will facilitate the acquisition of the remaining land in private hands on the site, standing at approximately 7% of the 31 hectares required²⁸. 

We understand that in 2019, the attempt to acquire the sizeable plots of Cargiant land to the northeast of Old Oak Common Station via CPO, a key section of the masterplan for residential development, was rejected by the Planning Inspectorate which supported Cargiant’s refusal to sell due to sudden changes in market conditions²⁹. However, Imperial, a large historic landowner which developed its first buildings in Old Oak in 2015 and owns over 17 acres in the area³⁰, have recently invested into the project: Imperial purchased Victoria Industrial Estate, east of North Acton Station, from Segro at the end of 2024 with a view to repositioning the site to provide office and lab accommodation for the upscaling of spinouts from Imperial’s alternative locations across the WestTech Corridor³¹. 

Figure 9: A Table of Passenger Numbers at Old Oak Common as of Most Recent Surveys to October 2025.

As both the maps and figures above show, Old Oak Common already benefits from strong passenger flows and rail connections, but via a disjointed plethora of smaller stops with limited interconnectivity and numerous challenges for passengers seeking to change between stations with a transport ‘black hole’ in the triangle between Willesden Junction, North Acton and East Acton.

Figure 12: A Table of Potential Passenger Numbers at Old Oak Common by 2038 (Assuming Existing Stations Maintain Current Levels).

Whilst it should be noted that this figure is a capacity rather than a confirmed annual volume (as the figures for the other stations listed are), it a reasonable assumption that given the scale of investment and development into the local area, as well as the importance and range of the services which the station will provide, with particular emphasis on HS2, the Elizabeth Line, and the Great Western Mainline, demand is likely to follow supply closely. If achieved in today’s climate, this figure of 88.50M would position Old Oak Common as the second most used station in the UK, ranking behind London Liverpool Street (94.50M) but notably ahead of London Paddington and Tottenham Court Road (66.90M and 64.20M respectively)⁴². 

As shown in Figure 13, significant progress has already been made in the transformation of the area and construction of Old Oak Common station in particular, which secured planning in 2020 and has completed excavation of the 20-metre-deep underground station box to enable current work on the high-speed platforms⁴⁹. 

At present, the key process of land assembly is underway, set to be facilitated by the CPO process of which formal notice was given in September 2025⁵⁰. The complication and expense of this process, although still significant, is greatly reduced by over 90% of land required for initial redevelopment proposals being in public ownership. 

Additionally, the first meanwhile use has already begun, with OPDC’s Minerva Works scheme opening in the heart of Park Royal to house a group of local enterprises focused on the circular economy⁵¹. Specifically, Minerva Works is seeking to reuse waste materials from businesses in Park Royal and the nearby HS2 Development, including the clay extracted in the construction of Old Oak Common station, with a total aim of creating 35 jobs and salvaging 20 tonnes of otherwise wasted materials – saving 28 tonnes of carbon - over the scheme’s lifespan⁵². 

The next steps towards delivery involve negotiating a public land agreement with the Department for Transport and Network Rail following the presentation of the outline business case. Once this is completed, the OPDC can begin work on selecting a JV partner bring the long-awaited masterplan forwards.  

Key dates remaining in the delivery process include the construction of the first homes, slated to commence in 2029⁵³, the completion of Old Oak Common station in 2030, and the arrival of HS2 Phase 1 (Old Oak Common to Birmingham). The latter has been subject to review, with both Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander and HS2 Ltd CEO Mark Wild admitting that the initial 2033 deadline is now infeasible⁵⁴, precipitating a £25.3bn government funding packing for 2026-2030 in a bid to form a new business plan targeting cost limitation and certainty on timescales, which is still yet to be provided⁵⁵. Should it gain approval, The West London Orbital Railway is estimated to complete in the mid-2030s, providing commuters from across West London in areas such as Brent Cross, Brentford and Hounslow better access to the underground system, and subsequently Central London, via the Elizabeth Line from Old Oak Common⁵⁶. 

Beyond this, the HS2 station at Old Oak Common is expected to be fully operational by 2035 and when coupled together with the welcome news of the Old Oak to Euston tunnel commencing construction in January, it is anticipated that this vital link to Central London will be operational around 2040.  

Ultimately, the OPDC are leaving no stone unturned in their bid to drive this compelling regeneration forwards and ensure that Old Oak capitalises on its strategic location surrounding London’s first major new transport intersection to deliver a new community predicated on sustainability, community and innovation and opportunity for West London.