Skanska, Costaind and Strabag JV starts 4.5-mile journey from Old Oak Common two-and-a-half years after scheme was paused
The first of two tunnel boring machines building HS2’s approach to Euston station has started operations, nearly two-and-half years after the job was paused due to spiralling costs.
Rishi Sunak put the scheme being delivered by a joint venture between Skanska, Costain and Strabag (SCS) on hold in 2023 after around £2bn had already been sunk into the project.
Rail minister Peter Hendy and chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones switched on the 1,624-tonne German-made tunneling machine yesterday at the Old Oak Common station site, which is being built by a joint venture between Balfour Beatty, Vinci and Systra.
The 4.5-mile route from Old Oak Common to Euston, which is planned as the high speed line’s southern terminus, is the fifth and final deep twin-bore tunnel on the line’s 140-mile route between London and Birmingham.
The job is expected to take between a year and 18 months to complete as the machines pass under north West London, placing 48,294 concrete ring segments and removing more than 1.5 million tonnes of excavated soil.
It is part of a wider reset of the line under the programme’s chief executive Mark Wild, the former chief executive of Crossrail. Wild was appointed in 2024 to get HS2’s rising costs under control and speed up delivery.
He said: “On my first day at HS2, I unveiled the Euston TBMs as they were being prepared to build the Euston Tunnel. Just over a year on, we’re beginning to excavate the tunnel - a show of confidence that HS2 will be built into central London and kickstart economic growth.
“Over the past 12 months, I have been leading a comprehensive reset across HS2 to get it back on track and I am confident that we’re on the right path to delivering HS2 safely and efficiently. The start of tunnelling here today is a part of the strong foundations we can build upon to completing HS2 and deliver better journeys for rail passengers.”
It has taken more than a year for SCS to get tunnelling operations ready to start with the machines first transported by Herrenknecht AG in Germany in 2024 before they were reassembled in a giant underground station box at Old Oak Common.
The wider Euston scheme, covering land earmarked for redevelopment around the station, is being led by the newly established Euston Delivery Company which will oversee the construction of a transport hub including the new HS2 station, upgrades to the existing station and neighbouring commercial developments.
Hendy said: “We’re putting HS2 back on track, and taking the railway into central London is crucial to unlocking its full potential to deliver more jobs, more homes, and a long-term boost to the whole British economy.”
Jones added: “There’s nothing boring about tunnel boring. Today’s launch was a brilliant moment for the UK’s railways, building on six major rail tunnel and road milestones completed ahead of schedule last year.”
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