CPC Project Services is pleased to have supported HS2 Ltd in marking the completion of the Old Oak Common Lane utilities handover. This marks a significant milestone in the delivery of HS2’s Old Oak Common station in west London.
Behind the milestone lie years of highly complex infrastructure work involving multiple utility owners, a series of road diversions and intricate construction sequencing, all delivered around one of London’s busiest and most constrained construction interfaces.
A large and complex undertaking
The utilities programme is one of the largest and most complex of its kind in the UK. It has required the relocation of major utilities including water, sewer, electrical and telecoms infrastructure, to enable the lowering of Old Oak Common Lane and the construction of the station itself.
This has involved the delivery of new utility tunnels driven beneath roads and existing industrial infrastructure using tunnel boring machines, alongside extensive modifications to the surrounding highway and infrastructure network.
Leading off-site works
CPC has been embedded within the HS2 leadership team at Old Oak Common since 2023, leading the off-site works programme. The scope has spanned:
- Highways diversions – planning and delivering changes to the local road network to keep traffic moving alongside live construction
- Bridges and structures – enabling the remodelling of bridges and structures across the site
- Utilities diversions – enabling new utility tunnels to be created beneath roads and existing industrial infrastructure
- Construction management – day-to-day oversight of works at the interface between the station site and the surrounding highway and industrial network
A central part of the role has been managing the daily interface between contractors, utility partners and the principal contractor, and steering the technical and commercial decisions needed to keep milestones on track.
A collaborative effort
The handover was delivered alongside project partners Balfour Beatty VINCI SYSTRA Joint Venture, Skanska Costain STRABAG Joint Venture, Thames Water, UK Power Networks and many other partners and suppliers working on the programme. A great collaboration effort, working with the HS2 team, to push delivery across the line through some demanding weeks.
Better connected
Old Oak Common will be one of the largest and best-connected stations in the country, with six underground platforms for high-speed services and eight surface-level platforms serving Great Western Main Line, Elizabeth line and Heathrow Express services.
Matthew Game, Regional Director, Birmingham, said:
“Off-site works of this complexity are where major programmes can be won or lost. Since 2023 our team has been embedded in the HS2 leadership team at Old Oak Common, and we’re proud to have played our part in the off-site works programme across highways, structures, utilities and construction management.
Delivering this handover is a real credit to everyone involved, and it unlocks the next phase of construction on a station that will change how the Midlands and the North connect to London.”
