HS2 Tunneling Machines to Conclude Route at Euston

Two tunnel boring machines (TBMs), named Karen and Madeleine, are designated to excavate the final 4.5 miles (7.3km) of tunnels, which will extend the HS2 line to Euston station. Each machine, weighing 1,250 tonnes, is currently undergoing assembly at Old Oak Common. Karen and Madeleine are anticipated to require approximately 18 months to complete their journey to the railway’s ultimate destination. Significant HS2 construction activities at a site adjacent to Euston station have been suspended since March 2023 due to uncertainties regarding funding. The TBMs, which will measure 190m (623ft) in length when fully assembled, are named in honor of Karen Harrison, the UK’s first female train driver, who was based at the Old Oak Common depot, and Madeleine Nobbs, the former president of the Women’s Engineering Society. Over the past six months, two launch chambers have been constructed to facilitate the TBMs. Disruption caused by construction work around the station has been a source of frustration for residents and local businesses for nearly a decade and is expected to persist for several more years. HS2 indicated that final plans for the Euston terminus station “are still under review” and that it is collaborating with the government and other stakeholders “to design an affordable station design that can run HS2 services from London to the Midlands”. The completion of the Birmingham to London project was cast into doubt in October 2023 when then-prime minister, Rishi Sunak, stated that extending the high-speed rail project from Old Oak Common to Euston would be contingent on private investment. However, in her Budget in October, Chancellor Rachel Reeves committed the funding necessary to commence tunnelling work to Euston. When the government announced the new high-speed line to connect the capital with regional cities in 2009, the London to Birmingham section was predicted to be completed by 2020 at a cost of £7bn. That phase of HS2 is now projected to open between 2029 and 2033. The Department for Transport estimated the remaining project cost at £45bn to £54bn in 2019 prices, although HS2 management provided an estimate of £49bn to £57bn.