{"id":40403,"date":"2024-05-10T11:37:30","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T01:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=40403"},"modified":"2024-05-10T11:37:30","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T01:37:30","slug":"key-milestone-for-hs2-as-half-of-tunnels-completed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=40403","title":{"rendered":"Key milestone for HS2 as half of tunnels completed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Construction of the giant network of tunnels for HS2<\/a> has now passed the halfway point, marking a significant milestone for Britain\u2019s new high-speed line.<\/p>\n

HS2, which is at peak construction, supporting more than 31,000 jobs, has now completed excavation of two of its five twin-bore tunnels, with a further two well underway.<\/p>\n

It underlines the scale of the progress being made on the line which is being constructed at 350 separate worksites between London and the West Midlands.<\/p>\n

In total, high-speed trains will travel through 27.4 miles of twin-bore tunnels \u2013 or almost a fifth of the 140-mile route. This means that HS2\u2019s fleet of tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are excavating and building a total of 54.8 miles of tunnel.<\/p>\n

New analysis published today shows that 29 miles \u2013 53 per cent \u2013 has been excavated and built so far, eclipsing the length of tunnels bored for the Crossrail line beneath London.<\/p>\n

Each TBM operates like an underground factory, excavating the tunnels, lining them with pre-cast concrete tunnel segments, grouting them into place and moving forward at an average speed of between 12 and 16 metres per day.<\/p>\n

Once the drives are finished, HS2 moves to the next stage of the tunnelling project when other vital features such as the cross-passages, vent shafts and portals will be completed. This comes before the internal fit-out of railway systems including power, track and signalling which allows high-speed trains to operate.<\/p>\n

Rail Minister Huw Merriman said: \u201cReaching this impressive milestone on a project of HS2\u2019s scale shows just how much momentum is behind construction of the line, which, once complete, will have a transformative impact on rail travel for generations to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a significant achievement for the team helping deliver this railway and I\u2019m delighted the project has now supported record numbers of new jobs, demonstrating the vital role it is playing in creating opportunities up and down the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Completed tunnels:<\/strong><\/p>\n

In March 2023, TBM \u2018Dorothy\u2019 completed its second drive of the one-mile\u00a0Long Itchington Wood Tunnel<\/strong>\u00a0in Warwickshire \u2013 the first tunnel to be completed on the project.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, \u2018Florence\u2019 and \u2018Cecilia\u2019 completed both drives of the 10-mile\u00a0Chiltern Tunnel<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 the longest tunnel on the route \u2013 with the second breakthrough witnessed in March.<\/p>\n

On-track tunnels:<\/strong><\/p>\n

In London, four TBMs are digging the 8.4-mile\u00a0Northolt Tunnel<\/strong>. \u2018Sushila\u2019 and \u2018Caroline\u2019 have excavated around three miles of their five-mile route, travelling from West Ruislip on the outskirts of the capital to Green Park Way in Greenford, north-west London. Two more are building a 3.4-mile section of this tunnel in the opposite direction from Victoria Road in Ealing to Green Park Way. \u2018Emily\u2019 has completed 0.2 miles and \u2018Anne\u2019 has just set off.<\/p>\n

In the Midlands, \u2018Mary Ann\u2019 is 1.3 miles into the 3.5-mile drive of the first bore of the\u00a0Bromford Tunnel<\/strong>\u00a0between Water Orton in North Warwickshire and Washwood Heath in Birmingham. \u2018Elizabeth\u2019 has just started to build the second bore.<\/p>\n

Tunnel yet to start:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Significant preparatory works have already been completed ahead of the formal start of the 4.5 mile\u00a0Euston Tunnel<\/strong>\u00a0between Old Oak Common and Euston stations in London. The two TBMs are currently being manufactured and tested. The government is now exploring different funding mechanisms for delivery of the tunnel.<\/p>\n

The figures came as separate quarterly analysis was published showing that a record number of jobs are now supported by HS2. Figures show 31,160 are now employed directly or through the supply chain in the first three months of 2024, an increase of 2,674 full-time equivalent roles over the previous quarter. Some 1,533 new apprenticeships have been created and 4,258 formerly unemployed people have now found work on HS2 since 2017.<\/p>\n

Jackie Roe, HS2\u2019s Civils Delivery Director said: \u201cThe halfway point for our tunnelling programme is a fantastic milestone, but we\u2019ve still got a lot of work to do on the tunnels, including all cross passages, vent shafts and then fitting them out with the critical rail and power systems that will eventually allow trains to safely operate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a significant step towards delivering the country\u2019s new high speed railway, which will provide faster and far more reliable journeys, while almost doubling capacity on the most congested part of the West Coast Main Line.\u201d<\/p>\n

The machines are operated by crews of around 17, working in shifts to keep the 24\/7 operation running. They are supported by teams on the surface managing logistics and maintaining the smooth progress of the tunnelling operation. In addition, many more people are involved in producing the concrete tunnel wall segments, along with dedicated teams processing the material from the tunnels so it can be re-used elsewhere on the project.<\/p>\n

The rest of the HS2 route includes six cut and cover, or \u2018green\u2019 tunnels totalling 5.2 miles, and 70 cuttings totalling 44 miles, which means over half of the track \u2013 around 76 miles \u2013 is below ground level in tunnels or cuttings, reducing visibility of the railway.<\/p>\n

When complete, HS2 will improve connections between London and the West Midlands, with trains running further north on existing lines. The new high speed railway will create quicker and more reliable journeys, driving economic growth while crucially freeing up space for more local trains on the most congested part of the existing West Coast Main Line.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Video credit: HS2 Ltd<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Construction of the giant network of tunnels for HS2 has now passed the halfway point, marking a significant milestone for Britain\u2019s new high-speed line. HS2, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":40404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[7,11],"class_list":["post-40403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rail-news","tag-transport","tag-usa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}