Ross Lydall took a GWR test train into Euston - which may become a more frequent occurrence in the years to come.
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00:00This is Paddington Station, the London terminus of the Great Western Railway.
00:06But for periods over the next five or six years, the track into Paddington will be closed
00:12for work on the HS2 station at Old Oak Common.
00:17Now, what is GWR going to do with its passengers?
00:21Well, the good news is it has a plan and it aims to take them, not to Paddington,
00:27but to Euston instead to get them into central London by a different route.
00:32Now, how is that going to work? Well, we're going to find out today.
00:36Let's take a look at how the preparations are going.
00:43The first day that we're doing this will be the 17th of November, and that's just one Sunday.
00:48We'll then be doing it over Christmas, so there's five days over Christmas,
00:54including Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and then progressively over the next five, six, seven years,
00:59there'll be works that will mean that we'll go into Euston over many of those Christmases
01:06over a shorter or longer period.
01:09But also, you know, it gives us the opportunity to do that if necessary at any other time as well.
01:16So we've just gone through Ealing Broadway. The pantograph has come down and we're now using diesel engines.
01:22We'll swing round to Acton and then up to Wilsdon, where this train will join the West Coast Main Line all the way into Euston.
01:30What we're doing is we'll have an hourly service from the south-west of England, so Cornwall-Devon.
01:35We'll have an hourly service from South Wales, which will go into Euston.
01:39We'll then have a number of trains that will terminate at Reading and connect there,
01:45and we'll also have a number of trains that go through to Ealing Broadway for the more local journeys,
01:50and they'll be able to connect there onto the London Underground and into London Dublin.
01:54So here we are. We have arrived in Euston.
01:58Now, this is not a common sight, but passengers will start to experience this from November the 17th,
02:05and then for three days after Christmas this year, and then for the next six or seven years.
02:10In 2028, a total of 18 days around the Christmas period will involve GWR trains running into Euston.
02:18Now, one other important fact worth mentioning is that this will also be the case for the Elizabeth Line trains.
02:24They won't come to Euston, but they will be diverted.
02:28The Elizabeth Line, over the same period, will only run between either Heathrow and Reading and into Ealing Broadway,
02:34and then from Paddington, so there will be no Elizabeth Line trains between Ealing Broadway and Paddington
02:40for the same period of time, over the next six or seven years, until finally Old Oak Common and the SHS2 station come on stream.