Passengers heading in and out of Paddington face more than 180 days of disruption due to HS2 works – including 43 days when the station is shut entirely, MPs have been told.
This includes a three-day shutdown immediately after Christmas when the Great Western main line is closed for three days between December 27-29 to enable work to be carried out at Old Oak Common station.
The full extent of the likely disruption to journeys in and out of Paddington emerged during a parliamentary debate.
Max Wilkinson, the Lib Dem MP for Cheltenham, said there would be five years of “widespread disruption” – followed by “every train between the west and south Wales and London” being slower once Old Oak Common station opens around 2030.
He said there would be 29 days of disruption in 2024/25, 30 in 2025-26, 41 in 2026-27, including 14 days when no trains run at all, 34 days in 2027-28, including 11 days when no trains run at all, and 47 days of disruption in 2028-29, including 18 days when no trains run at all.
This totals 181 days of disruption – including 43 days of full closures – and excludes any disruption in 2029/30, as the impact of works that year is not yet known.
Mr Wilkinson told a Westminster Hall debate that most of the disruption would fall “on Sundays and at Christmas”.
He said: “The number of constituencies that will be impacted by the work is absolutely huge. It will be every constituency in Cornwall and Devon, most of Somerset, Bristol, parts of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, south Wales, Gloucestershire—my own area of the country—Wiltshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire.
“That is a lot of people whose journeys will be slower for a long time, and a lot of people who will have to make alternative arrangements when trains are cancelled.”
Tessa Munt, the Lib-Dem MP for Wells and Mendip Hills, said the closures could have a huge impact on the Glastonbury festival.
“The Glastonbury festival finishes on a Sunday, and many people travel in and out of Glastonbury on a Sunday, so this will be incredibly damaging to that event,” she said.
Mr Wilkinson said that it was “no exaggeration to say that weekends are a nightmare” and demanded improvements to Great Western Railway services on Sundays.
The 14-platform Old Oak Common station, which is costing about £2bn to build, will be used as HS2’s southern terminus until the new HS2 station at Euston is built. There is no opening date but it is likely to be around 2040.
Old Oak Common will also act as an interchange with HS2 for the Elizabeth line, Great Western Railway services and the Heathrow Express.
Mainline trains that stop at Old Oak Common will have four to seven minutes added to their journey times.
Even “fast” trains that run through the new station without stopping – the exact stopping pattern is yet to be determined - will have up to 90 seconds added to their journey times because the mainline track is being realigned and will curve through the new station.
During the Paddington closures, some Great Western Railway services will divert to Euston.
Transport minister Lilian Greenwood said it was impossible to build Old Oak Common “without some disruption to existing services”.
She told MPs: “The next significant blockade had been due to take place in December 2026, but this is now being re-planned to a later date by HS2 Ltd. Further detail on the future works plan will be shared as soon as it is available in the spring.”
Rail minister Lord Hendy is in discussions with HS2, Network Rail and the train operating companies in a bid to reduce the impact of the work at Old Oak Common.
He said in a written parliamentary answer: “Old Oak Common is estimated to be operational between 2029-2033.
“The large Christmas possessions that enable services to run on the new track layout, through Old Oak Common station, are currently being re-planned and further information will be available from Spring 2025.”
A Network Rail spokesman said: “Most of the work will take place without customers noticing, at weekends or overnight.
“However, where this isn’t possible, the industry is working together to comprehensively plan the work to reduce the impact to passengers as much as possible, as well as include any changes into timetables well in advance so customers can still travel by train.”
