HS2 rail tunnels get under way

HS2 will launch its first giant tunnelling machine today.

The 558ft (170m) long contraption will dig a 10-mile (16km) tunnel under the Chiltern Hills, starting from a site in Buckinghamshire near the M25 motorway.

It will work non-stop for three years and is one of 10 tunnel boring machines (TBMs) being deployed between London and the West Midlands for Phase 1 of the high-speed railway.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the launch of the first TBM is ‘a landmark moment for the project’.

He went on: “The work has truly begun on taking HS2 northwards.

“The tunnels these machines dig will ensure the benefits of our new high-capacity, high-speed railway run to the great cities of the North and Midlands, forging stronger connections in our country, boosting connectivity and skills opportunities, and transforming our transport links.”

Mark Thurston, chief executive of HS2 Ltd, the Governmentowned company responsible for building the high-speed railway, said the project is ‘providing a major boost to the economy in these difficult times’.

He said more than 16,000 jobs and 500 apprenticeships are already being supported by the work.

“I hope the entire country will get behind this truly transformative project,” he added.

The TBM launching today has been named Florence after Florence Nightingale.

It will be joined by a second, identical machine, enabling separate tunnels for north and southbound trains to be dug. The tunnels will reach depths of up to 262ft.