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Headline: HS2 Reaches Euston Tunnelling Milestone At Old Oak Common

Caption: On Tuesday 23 January, HS2 chiefs celebrated the breakthrough of a tunnelling machine into its underground Old Oak Common station – the key milestone in plans to eventually carry the high-speed line into central London. The tunnel boring machine (TBM) named Lydia finished its near-kilometre long journey into the station box in a move that completes the construction of the Atlas Road Logistics Tunnel. The 853m long tunnel, which runs from the Atlas Road logistics hub, is being built to service the programme to construct the line eastwards towards Euston. It will eventually allow materials required for the Euston Tunnel to be transported to the site without clogging up local roads or disrupting work going on elsewhere at Old Oak Common station. Speaking about the milestone, Malcolm Codling, Project Client Director for HS2 Ltd said: “The completion of the Atlas Road Logistics Tunnel takes us closer along our journey to bring HS2 into central London at Euston. The logistics tunnel is a key part of our plans to enable us to construct the Euston Tunnel and will reduce the construction impact on the local community.” The logistics tunnel enables the other HS2 tunnels to reach Euston by providing a route out for excavated spoil, avoiding local roads which would have been unable to cope. Once the Euston Tunnel is complete and the railway is operational, the logistics tunnel will be backfilled. James Richardson, Managing Director of Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture, who run the work, said: “The completion of the Atlas Road logistics tunnel paves the way for us to deliver our London tunnels programme to Euston. The tunnel supports our continued commitment to reducing cost and carbon by removing one million lorry journeys off London’s roads.” The plans to connect Old Oak Common and Euston appeared to be under threat under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to cut back HS2 to save money. It was reported that High Speed trains may only reach Euston with additional private investment in the terminus. HS2 officials say that the work is continuing but “alternative funding arrangements for the delivery of Euston station are being considered”. They also say “significant progress” has been made on other tunnels linking the troubled High Speed 2 line.

Keywords: HS2, railways, tunnelling, old oak common, feature, news, rishi sunak

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