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I believe that for some time North Pole Depot on the Great Western Main Line just to the south of Old Oak Common was used by Eurostars (leaving HS1 from just north of St Pancras).

My question is: What route did they take and could this be used as a much cheaper link from Old Oak Common to HS1 compared with the £1billion link with a long tunnel proposed by HS2?

I realise that only UK gauge trains (like Eurostar) could use this route but the numbers on trains from the North and Midlands to Europe (or Kent) will be small and the money saved in construction huge.