Second Calvert railhead opens for HS2 materials

An additional 150 aggregate trains expected to run over two-month period.

HS2 says 8300 tonnes of carbon and the equivalent of 24,000 lorry journeys will be saved by the operation of an extra 150 aggregate trains over a two-month period to its new railhead close to the village of Calvert in Buckinghamshire.

The Calvert South railhead is the second to be opened in the area to facilitate the delivery of construction materials. As of mid-August, the first railhead – which opened to traffic in December – had seen 369 trains. HS2 estimates that by the end of 2021, it will have received more than 840,000 tonnes of construction materials. The trains are operated by DB Cargo and Hanson.

Route

A 2.5-mile-long cutting will take HS2 through the area, roughly following the former Great Central Railway route. It will include a spur to a new infrastructure maintenance depot, which will sit alongside the East West Rail route, linking Oxford and Cambridge via Milton Keynes and Bedford. The depot is expected to create around 180 jobs.

The East West Rail line will cross HS2 north of Calvert (see feature last issue) and 3km (1.9-miles) of earthworks for it will be carried out as part of the HS2 programme of construction, including a spur to a potential East West extension to Aylesbury.

Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial and Bam Nuttall are working in partnership to construct the 80km (50-mile) central section of the route.

HS2 Excavators prepare to transfer aggregate from a train hauled by Class 66 No. 66035 at Calvert South to dumper trucks for stockpiling ahead of use in the HS2 construction project.