Euston tunnel
From Euston to Old Oak Common
The Euston tunnel will carry high-speed trains between London’s Euston station and Old Oak Common station. The 4.5 mile (7.2km) twin-bore tunnel will reach depths of up to 50 metres. It will be excavated using two tunnel boring machines (TBMs), Karen and Madeleine. These will be launched from the eastern section of HS2’s Old Oak Common station in 2026.
How we’re building the Euston tunnels
The two 190-metre-long TBMs were manufactured by world-leading tunnelling experts Herrenknecht AG in Germany and transported to Old Oak Common in pieces before being reassembled on site. The HS2 team lifted the machine components using a 750-tonne crane into the Old Oak Common underground box, where they are being reassembled, ready to bore to HS2’s terminus station in the capital.
Weighing an incredible 1,250 tonnes, each of the TBMs will launch from an underground box at one end of the project’s Old Oak Common station.
They are expected to take around one and a half years to complete their drives.
Support infrastructure
Adelaide Road headhouse
Located on a Network Rail embankment near Adelaide Road, between Chalk Farm Road and Primrose Hill Road, in Camden.
Canterbury Works headhouse
Canterbury Works headhouse is in South Kilburn. It is behind Canterbury Road, adjacent to the existing railway infrastructure.
Atlas Road logistics tunnel
The 853 metre-long logistics tunnel runs from the Atlas Road logistics hub to the eastern section of the Old Oak Common station site. The tunnel supports our commitment to reduce cost and carbon by removing one million lorry journeys from London’s roads.
The tunnel is used to deliver materials to the two Euston TBMS. This will include more than 56,000 concrete tunnel segments manufactured in Hartlepool. It will also be used to take away the excavated London Clay.
Connecting to our London Logistics Hub
A conveyor system will run through the logistics tunnel. This is connected to an existing conveyor at Atlas Road, taking the excavated London Clay to our London Logistics Hub at Willesden Euro Terminal where it is being used to construct the Euston tunnel. From there, the waste materials will be taken by train for re-use at sites in Kent, Cambridgeshire and Rugby.
The tunnel drive was completed in January 2024.
Euston Approaches
The Euston approaches are between Parkway and Hampstead Road in the London Borough of Camden. This connects the Euston tunnels beneath the A4201 Parkway directly to Euston station.
The tunnel configuration starts as two tunnels and then becomes three as they pass beneath the existing railway network. High-speed trains will emerge into a partially subterranean concrete box structure, gradually travelling to ground level at the Euston Throat.
How we’re building the Euston approaches
Three underground tunnels are being built in the Euston approaches. These pass beneath the existing railway and sections of Parkway, Mornington Street and Park Village East roads before emerging into a concrete box structure just south of Mornington Street bridge.
Unlike the main Euston tunnels, these three tunnels won’t be constructed using TBMs. Instead, engineers will excavate the tunnels using conventional methods and apply a sprayed concrete lining.
When the TBMs used for the two main Euston tunnels complete their work, they will arrive at the Euston approaches beneath Parkway junction. They will be dismantled and removed in sections by lorry.
The excavation work includes creating a large underground cavern where the tunnel boring machines can be dismantled. This cavern is where one of the two tunnels splits into two, creating a three-tunnel configuration – two tunnels for trains arriving at Euston and one for departing services.
This arrangement, combined with the track fan-out above ground between the Euston approaches and Euston station, will give trains access to multiple station platforms.
Key infrastructure components
Tunnels and cavern
Three underground tunnels will extend from approximately Parkway to Mornington Street Bridge, with one tunnel splitting into two during this stretch.
Concrete box
This enables trains to move from the underground tunnels to the open-air railway cutting approaching Euston station.
Headhouses
Two emergency and maintenance access points will be built in the existing railway cutting near Park Village East – one adjacent to Park Village Studios and another above the concrete box south of Mornington Street bridge.
These are referred to as Euston Portal and Euston Cavern headhouses.
Cutting (Euston Throat)
This work is to deepen and widen the open-air railway cutting to a depth of 16 metres. It is in front of Regent’s Park Estate and runs parallel to existing National Rail tracks.
Granby Terrace bridge extension
Bridge extensions carry utility diversions to maintain uninterrupted services during construction.
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