A major engineering milestone has been completed on the HS2 programme with the successful launch of a 130-metre steel viaduct across the Grand Union Canal near Ufton in Warwickshire. The 1.5-mile stretch of canal has now reopened to the public seven days ahead of schedule after engineers successfully slid the Read more…
The High Speed Rail Group warmly welcomes the Government’s announcement of its long-term intention to build a new railway line from Birmingham to Manchester, connecting to HS2 which will run from London to Birmingham. This new line is essential if we are to avoid locking in Britain’s biggest bottleneck to Read more…
The boring machine being used to dig HS2’s Birmingham approach tunnels has broken through, marking the completion of major tunnel excavation between London’s Old Oak Common and the West Midlands — a significant step forward for the UK’s most ambitious rail infrastructure project. The 125-metre-long tunnel boring machine (TBM), Elizabeth Read more…
One of the lasting misconceptions about HS2 is why it was proposed in the first place. Many still believe it was all about cutting journey times, a bonus, yes, but never the primary goal. Others rightly highlight the aim to better connect the North and South of the UK – Read more…
Fifteen years on from its launch by Government, but still some way from completion, HS2 remains in the public eye. As this new book by first time author Sally Gimson shows, there is enough intrigue and political shenanigans to make Off the Rails – the Inside Story of HS2 a Read more…
Our 2025 Annual Conference, held in Birmingham, brought together senior leaders from across industry, government, and the wider transport sector to explore the future of high-speed rail, not just as a national infrastructure ambition, but as a practical route to UK growth and productivity. With the Spending Review on the Read more…
HS2 contractors have completed work on a pair of innovative extensions to the southern portal of its longest tunnel to eliminate the possibility of ‘sonic boom’ being created by high-speed trains entering at 200mph. The structures, built at the southern end of the railway’s 10-mile Chiltern Tunnel to the north-west Read more…
HS2’s second tunnel boring machine (TBM), named Caroline, has completed a 5-mile tunnel drive under London. This is the second machine to reach the Green Park Way vent shaft in Ealing, and one of four giant tunnelling machines being deployed to build the railway’s Northolt Tunnel. The 2,050-tonne TBM broke Read more…
The HS2 lifted Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) ‘Sushila’ is out of the ground at the Green Park Way site in Greenford, West London following its 5-mile drive underneath the capital. The cutterhead, front and middle shield, weighing 850 tonnes, were lifted from the vent shaft in one piece using a Read more…
The construction of a bridge that will allow HS2 trains to pass under the A43 near Brackley has made progress with the structure’s steel beams lifted into position recently during a series of three weekend closures. The A43 links Oxford, Brackley and Northampton and provides access to Silverstone and connections Read more…