Phase One: London to West Midlands

Launching HS2’s first TBM

HS2 Ltd has announced the launch of the first tunnel boring machine from HS2’s South Portal site next to the M25 in Buckinghamshire.

Find out more about the launch.

What is Phase One?

Phase One of HS2 will see a new high speed railway line constructed from Euston to north of Birmingham, where it will re-join the existing West Coast Mainline. Services will travel onwards to places like Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, Preston and Wigan. Phase One will open between 2029 and 2033.

The new line between London and Birmingham will run on 140 miles of dedicated track.  Four brand new stations and two new depots will also be built. 22,000 workers will be needed to complete construction.

View the interactive route map. Find out more about the stations. Or watch the video below to understand the scale of construction.

Accessibility: Full video transcript.

Facts and figures

15,000 people have already worked on HS2. We’ve announced 22,000 further jobs, with more big contracts and jobs to come. They will be constructing a railway that will be a feat of British engineering. The Phase One route will have more miles of tunnels than Crossrail and a bridge longer than the Forth Rail Bridge.

Tunnels

• Phase One will have 32 miles (51km) of tunnels.
• The Chilterns tunnel is 10 miles (16km) long and at 90m depth it is the deepest on the route.
• The London tunnels are 13 miles (21km), with a maximum depth of 50m.
• There will also be tunnels in Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands

HS2 tunnels

Viaducts and bridges

• Over 500 bridging structures will be constructed under and over the route.
• Over 50 viaducts measuring about 9 miles (15km) in length will be built.
• The UK’s longest viaduct will cross the Colne Valley. It will be over two miles (3.4km) long, which is 0.6 miles longer than the Forth Rail Bridge.
• Delta Junction outside Birmingham is 5.9 miles (9.5km) long and consists of 7 bridges and viaducts spanning 3 rail lines, 8 roads, 5 rivers and canals and the M6.

Cuttings and embankments

• Over 70 cuttings will be excavated, measuring over 44 miles (72km) in total.
• The longest is the Calvert Cutting at 2.5 miles (4.1km) with a maximum depth of 9.7m.
• The deepest is Lower Thorpe Cutting at 30.5m deep.
• Over 110 embankments, measuring about 38 miles (61km) long , will be constructed.
• The longest embankment will be Grendon Underwood at 1.8 miles (3km) long.

Construction approach

Construction will begin with the biggest engineering challenges – such as the stations and tunnels – then the main viaducts and bridges, and finally meets in the middle with the route surface works. As such, most activity during 2020 will be focused on the city centre station sites and the major construction compounds at Old Oak Common, South Portal, Calvert and Streethay.

All along the route this year, Enabling Works contractors will start to hand over to Main Works contractors with station construction also starting at Old Oak Common. Detailed design work will continue in parallel for the likes of Euston and the surface route, while procurement will continue for the later stages of the build, such as the Birmingham stations, rolling stock, track and overhead systems.

Construction highlights

HS2 will use the best of British skills and innovation to prepare and build the route.

Enabling Works contractors will complete the majority of the archaeological investigations, continue to clear the surface route, and deliver new habitat and tree planting as part of the Green Corridor project.

Our Enabling Works contractors will complete the clearance of the major station sites – Euston, Old Oak Common, Interchange and Curzon Street.

We will complete the set-up of the biggest construction site compounds, which will act as regional centres for construction and logistics, with hundreds of workers on each site.

The first tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will be completed and delivered ahead of their launch in 2021.

In 2021, the foundations for the Colne Valley Viaduct, the longest viaduct in the UK, will be laid.

Motorway bridges will be installed at the Interchange site and preparations at Washwood Heath – This is a maintenance depot just outside Birmingham where trains will be serviced and maintained.

We will begin restoration of the old Curzon Street station building, which will be converted into a local information centre adjacent to our new station.

Construction will begin at Old Oak Common with the construction partner starting to build the huge box from which the east-bound London TBMs will be launched and the new platforms built.

Benefits

There are three main benefits of HS2:

• Capacity – taking inter-city trains off the existing rail network will free up more space for commuter and freight services, helping to relieve overcrowding and take lorries off the road.
• Connectivity – better transport links between our cities and regions is bringing more investment to the Midlands and North, helping to level up the country.
• Carbon – HS2 will be the low carbon option for long distance travel, emitting 17 times less carbon than the equivalent domestic flight and 7 times less carbon than the equivalent car journey.

Phase One and Parliament

Learn about the Phase One Hybrid Bill and Undertakings and Assurances.

Phase One in Parliament