A
tunnelling
machine
on
HS2


has
completed
a
16km
journey
by
breaking
through
at
the
North
Portal
of
the
Chiltern
Tunnel.

The
journey
of
TBM
Florence
has
taken
2
years
and
11
months,
travelling
at
about
16
metres
a
day,
but
a
train
will
travel
through
the
tunnel
in
a
few
minutes
when
HS2
is
open
between
London
and
Birmingham.

Florence,
which
weighs
in
at
2,000
tonnes,
has
excavated
3
million
cubic
metres
of
material
during
the
journey,
which
will
be
used
to
restore
a
grassland.
Florence
is
one
of
10
machines
excavating
51km
of
tunnels,
and
was
the
first
to
be
launched,
in
May
2021. 

Two
identical
TBMs
were
used
to
create
the
twin-bore
Chiltern
Tunnel,
which
stretches
from
the
South
Portal
near
the
M25
to
South
Heath
in
Buckinghamshire.
A
second
TBM,
named
‘Cecilia’,
is
almost
at
the
end
of
its
trip
in
the
parallel
tunnel,
and
is
due
to
break
through
in
the
coming
weeks.

Rail
minister
Huw
Merriman
said:
‘This
ground-breaking
moment
for
HS2
demonstrates
significant
progress
on
the
country’s
largest
infrastructure
project,
with
“Florence”
paving
the
way
for
faster,
greener
journeys
between
London
and
Birmingham
while
supporting
hundreds
of
jobs
and
apprenticeships
along
the
way.

‘Today’s
breakthrough
of
HS2’s
longest
tunnel
highlights
the
momentum
behind
the
project
and
the
achievement
is
testament
to
the
hard
work
and
dedication
of
the
450-strong
team
helping
deliver
the
line
that
will
transform
rail
travel
for
generations
to
come.’

Each
TBM
is
an
underground
factory
designed
specifically
for
the
geology
of
the
Chilterns.
Having
bored
another
few
metres
each
day,
the
TBM
then
lined
the
new
section
with
precast
concrete
segments.

Four
similar
TBMs
are
being
used
for
the
London
approach
tunnels,
while
another
two
will
work
on
Birmingham’s
Bromford
Tunnel.
Preparations
are
also
underway
for
the
launch
of
two
more
machines
to
excavate
the
Euston
tunnels,
although
the
fate
of
the
terminus
at
Euston
is
still
undecided
and
the
first
London
terminus
for
HS2
will
almost
certainly
be
Old
Oak
Common.

The
breakthrough
came
a
week
after
HS2
had
published
new
research
claiming
that
high
speed
rail
will
boost
the
West
Midlands
economy
by
£10
billion
during
the
next
10
years.

HS2
Ltd
executive
chairman
Sir
Jon
Thompson
said:
‘Today
is
an
incredible
day
of
HS2
and
I’d
like
to
thank
the
hundreds
of
people
who’ve
worked
so
hard
over
many
years
to
make
it
happen.
Once
complete,
HS2
will
dramatically
improve
journeys
between
our
two
largest
cities
and
also
free
up
space
on
the
existing
main
line
for
more
local
trains.

‘We’ve
still
got
a
lot
of
work
to
do,
but
historic
moments
like
today
really
underline
the
huge
amount
of
progress
that’s
been
made
and
the
fantastic
engineering
skills
we
have
on
the
project.’