HS2 launched the second TBM for the Euston Tunnel yesterday – the last of 11machines for the 225km-long high-speed railway.
TBM Karen, operated by HS2’s London tunnels contractor, Skanska Costain Strabag (CSC), started its drive from the Old Oak Common station box in west London and will build the second bore of the 7.2km tunnel towards the railway’s terminus at Euston.
The TBM is named after Karen Harrison, one of the first female train drivers in the UK, who worked out of Old Oak Common depot.
The first TBM for the Euston Tunnel – TBM Madeleine – was launched in January.
The TBMs will progress at an average rate of 16m per day.
On both bores of the tunnel, 48,294 concrete segments will be installed, and 1.5 million tonnes of spoil will be excavated. Each six-tonne concrete segment has been manufactured by Strabag in a newly-established facility in Hartlepool.
At its deepest, Euston Tunnel will be 66m below ground.
The tunnelling operation is being supported by a separate temporary logistics tunnel completed in January 2024. The 853m-long Atlas Road Logistics Tunnel will allow access to both machines, delivery of construction materials and removal of the excavated spoil. The excavated material will be taken via conveyor to the London Logistics Hub at the Willesden Euro Terminal Depot before being transported by rail for reuse in projects in Kent, Cambridgeshire and Warwickshire.
HS2 continues to undergo a comprehensive reset led by HS2 chief executive Mark Wild.
Alan Morris, HS2’s line of route delivery director, said TBM Karen’s launch was a significant milestone in the project’s extensive tunnelling programme.
“While we have been working hard to reset the project, our expert teams have been focused on safely driving up productivity – and today’s final TBM launch is real evidence of that paying off,” he said.
To mark TBM Karen’s launch, two female train drivers from Avanti West Coast were invited onto the machine to drive it alongside the engineers working on the project.
