Twin-bore tunnels

We ran an engagement programme with local schools in the Buckinghamshire area and held a national vote to select the names for the two TBMs creating the 10-mile tunnel under the Chilterns.

The winning names, Florence and Cecilia, were suggested by students at Meadow High School in Hillingdon and The Chalfonts Community College, Buckinghamshire. They were inspired by female scientific and medical pioneers.

Florence is named after Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Cecilia was named after Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, an astronomer and astrophysicist from Buckinghamshire who was the first person to properly ‘read’ a temperature on stars.

Florence won 40% of the vote and Cecilia was a close second with 32%.

Florence and Cecilia were our first TBMs to launch. Florence launched in May 2021 and Cecilia, the second of the 2,000 tonne TBMs, launched in July 2021.

We held a national vote to name our third TBM, which created the one-mile twin bore tunnel under Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire.

Three names were shortlisted from more than 180 entries submitted by people in Warwickshire, who were asked to nominate the names of women closely associated with the county.

The winning name, Dorothy, was in honour of Dorothy Hodgkin who was the first British woman to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The name was suggested by a student at Warwickshire College Group and chosen by a public vote.

TBM Dorothy launched in December 2021, marking the launch of the first TBM on the Midlands section of HS2.

Local school children from Dairy Meadow Primary School in Southall and Brentside Primary Academy helped name the Northolt Tunnel TBMs after participating in workshops about the tunnelling work.

TBM Sushila was named after local schoolteacher Sushila Hirani, Head of Department and Lead for STEM at Greenford High School in Southall. The second TBM was named Caroline after the German-born British astronomer Caroline Herschel.

TBM Sushila launched in October 2022 by Sushila herself, with TBM Caroline launching later that same month.

TBM Emily was named after Emily Sophia Taylor who lived between 1872 and 1956. Emily was a midwife who provided services for women who could not afford maternity care. She helped establish the Perivale Maternity Hospital in 1937 before becoming Ealing’s first female mayor in 1938.

TBM Anne’s namesake is Lady Anne Byron, an educational reformer and philanthropist who lived between 1792 and 1860. She established the Ealing Grove School in 1834 – England’s first co-operative school which provided education for the working classes in an era when it was mainly for the wealthy.

TBM Emily launched in February 2024 with TBM Anne following in March 2024.

The first Bromford Tunnel TBM was named Mary Ann after Mary Ann Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot, who was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. The name was suggested by the Warwickshire community and TBM Mary Ann launched in the summer of 2023.

The second TBM was named Elizabeth by pupils from Paget Primary School in Birmingham, following the tradition of naming our TBMs after famous women from the local area. The machine is named after Dame Elizabeth Cadbury, who spent her life campaigning for the education and welfare of women in Birmingham.

Members of the local community selected the name Lydia for the TBM which built the Atlas Road Logistics Tunnel.

TBM Lydia was named after Lydia Gandaa, a former teacher at nearby Old Oak Common Primary School.

Lydia was at the launch event in April 2023 to see her name unveiled on the giant machine, alongside pupils from the school.

In keeping with tradition, the TBMs for Euston Tunnel were given female names after prominent women in history. One machine is called Karen after Karen Harrison, the first female train driver in the UK who was based out of Old Oak Common depot.

The second is named Madeleine after Madeleine Nobbs, the former president of the Women’s Engineering Society.