THE government has unveiled plans for a 225mph high speed rail network which would run through Kensal Green.

Old Oak Common Station, in nearby Acton, has been mapped out as a new Crossrail station and as a station on the new High Speed 2 route between London Euston and Birmingham.

It means surrounding areas such as Kensal Green and Harlesden could benefit from future regeneration.

The trains will run at 'regular speeds' while travelling through the borough. Once out of London they could travel up to 225mph, a speed at which they will need about seven-and-a-half miles to come to a stop.

The plans are by no means certain and if they did go ahead the line would not be complete until 2026, with construction not starting until 2017 at the earliest.

Euston would be the central London station and the service would cut journey times to Birmingham by 30 minutes, to about 50 minutes.

Councillor James Powney , Labour ward councillor for Kensal Green, said: "The new station will be 11 minutes from Heathrow, 30 minutes from Birmingham and with a fast link to Canary Wharf.

"That should give benefits by way of jobs in Harlesden and Kensal Green, as well as boosting business in Park Royal.

"The council needs to lobby to make sure these benefits are realised. For example, we need to ensure there are good connections with Willesden

Junction and Harlesden Town Centre, that local people and businesses benefit from the contracts and that we get planning gain to help with the transport issues."

Chris Garvey, of Christopher J Garvey and Co financial accountants, in High Street, Harlesden, is delighted with the news and believes the link could really benefit the town.

He said: "If it happens, this will be fantastic news for NW10, as anyone who knows the Old Oak Common area well will know it would be an ideal site and has huge under-used potential.

"These are the sort of infrastructure projects we badly need to get the economy back and running."

John Cox, spokesman for the North and West London Light Railway Group, has been lobbying for an orbital light railway link around the borough for about two years and believes if the line was constructed it could provide excellent links to Old Oak Common.

He said: "We welcome the Old Oak Common Station plans, although accepting there will be further discussions about Heathrow connections.

"Crucially, the new station could easily be reached by changing our own light rail plans.

"This would maximise the connections available by public transport to the new station.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create fast and reliable public transport around north and west London instead of more and more road congestion along the North Circular Road."

Transport secretary Lord Adonis said the network would 'enable key local, national and international networks to be better integrated'.

And referring to the Old Oak Common interchange he added: "Such a Crossrail Interchange station would deliver a fast and frequent service to London's West End, the City and Docklands, giving a total journey time, for example, from central Birmingham to Canary Wharf of just 70 minutes and from Leeds to Canary Wharf of just one hour, 40 minutes.

"This Crossrail Interchange station would also provide a fast, one-stop Heathrow Express service to Heathrow, in place of the long and tortuous journey to the airport currently experienced by passengers arriving at Euston, Kings Cross and St Pancras."

* What do you think? Would HS2 benefit the borough? Email tarabrady@trinitysouth.co.uk.