The Terminus at Euston

One of the most contentious issues with HS2 is the location of the London terminus. Whilst initially this will be at Old Oak Common, the most suitable terminus would be at Euston. HS2 will require the station to be rebuilt and this will take years, huge amounts of taxpayers money and will entail considerable disruption to existing services.

The SPRS project offers a comprehensive solution that will allow the existing railway system to remain largely intact and yet offer greater capacity and convenience. With our currently design proposal, we have a maximum theoretical capacity of 30,000 arrivals an hour and 26,000 departures.

How is this to be achieved? Simply by using the size and flexibility of shuttles as independent vehicles and their gradient climbing capacity to split arrivals and departures vertically and to separate almost completely pedestrians and passengers from moving vehicles.

Due to the smaller footprint, simplified construction and lack of need for complicated infrastructure we confidently predict that constructing an SPR Terminal at Euston Station will cost billions less than the current estimate of £8 billion (December 2024). As the stations consist of simple concrete floors and can be stacked over the existing station the time to construct would also be considerably less.

This would also include a 3 hectare charging area (as shown above) located at Old Oak Common or other suitable site (it can be also be built over existing rail lines and marshalling yards) and due to the ability of SPR Shuttles to climb gradients can be stacked or formatted in many ways.

Level 0 (Ground Floor - existing railway station)

Level 0 (ground level) is effectively the existing railway station. It is envisaged that this would remain largely intact, although the roof will be removed and support pillars may be installed to support the overheard structure. The SPRS system will be built over the existing station concourse and platforms.

Access to the ground floor will be in location of existing entrances, whilst arrivals from level 1 will exit via internal lifts and escalators to ground floor (where they can also access Underground services).

Access to the departure area at level 3 would be by external covered escalators from taxi and bus area adjacent to Euston gardens, although this area can also be accessed from internal stairs and lifts.

Level 1: Arrivals hall

The Arrivals hall consists of 5 arrival bays and a dedicated RoboCar bay. Barriers are inserted as required in between the bays and a spring loaded barrier is installed at the terminal point. The bays are recessed 150mm to allow flush mounting to pedestrian areas. There is a capacity for 10 SPRS64 shuttles to disembark simultaneously and 6 RoboCars (this could be extended further along Eversholt St elevation).

The turnaround for RoboCars from entry into the Arrivals hall to departure is estimated to be 1 minute, whilst the SPRS64 could be disembarked in 90 seconds (a conservative estimate would be 2 minutes).

The passengers would then make then way to conveniently located downward travelling escalators, lifts or stairs, whilst the empty vehicles would immediately set off to the battery charge area, which we suggest will be built over existing rail lines approximately 1km from the station. Once outside the arrivals hall the vehicles will join a separate track that is on a gradient and will bridge incoming trackway. Therefore the only possibility of a collision would be in the slowest part of the system and would be less than 100m in length

Level 2 Departures Bay

The level 2 departures are consists of three sections: A manoeuvring area to front of bay, an embarkation bay serviced by lifts from level 3 and a series of trackways leading to main line area. There is also a trackway to allow fully charged shuttles to enter the area. Passengers gather in position on level 3 and when shuttle is ready with gull wings open, descend to level 2 and immediately board the shuttles. Once loaded, the Shuttles will immediately depart.  Entry from both sides and folding seats allow quick embarkation, thus reducing further journey times.

Level 3 Departures Lounge and RoboCar Area

The Departures Lounge is at the top level. We envisage a glass vaulted roof and atrium above. The level is divided into three areas: The main concourse which will have kiosks, toilets and information areas and also the entry to the departure areas, where passengers will wait in pre allocated areas until their vehicle is ready at which point they will descend on lifts and immediately board the waiting shuttle. We envisage 7 bays with a total simultaneous capacity of fourteen 64 seat shuttles, allowing 896 people at a time to board, excluding RoboCar Passengers.

The RoboCar is in a segregated area and vehicles are either pre booked or on demand, and opened with an unlocking App or similar and immediately boarded.

Access to the departure lounge is directly from Euston Gardens and the bus station via external canopied escalators. Passengers can also use the lifts and stiars internally.

Limitation of the proposal

Please note that this is a schematic proposal and not a fully surveyed plan. or costed plan. What is important is that it is feasible. The proposed width of the terminus in our scheme is 73m to allow for 7 departure bays. This may be reduced slightly, or if a single arrival and departure bay is removed this will allow the plan to fit in the 61m width recorded as the current reported width of Euston Station. In our plan the SPRS system is cantilevered at First Level to allow both current dimensions to be retained and optimum size of the SPRS system. A variety of formats may be valid that would not affect the integrity of the project. The description provided is a rationalisation of the demands and benefits available.