HS2 construction updates

[Roger B]

Well it said how many head for the Kings X / St Pancras areas, including the offices thereabouts, and it’s about 1,000. I suspect that perhaps no more than 5% of them are heading for Eurostar.

I always walk between Euston and St Pancras - and I usually have luggage. Seems much easier to me, with wheeled bags, than struggling down crowded escalators, trying to squeeze onto crammed LU services, than walking for what seems miles underground in congested spaces (for the SE platforms at St Pancras). It takes less than ten minutes by foot, after all!

 

[Hadders]

I always walk between Euston and St Pancras - and I usually have luggage. Seems much easier to me, with wheeled bags, than struggling down crowded escalators, trying to squeeze onto crammed LU services, than walking for what seems miles underground in congested spaces (for the SE platforms at St Pancras). It takes less than ten minutes by foot, after all!

I've done 8 minutes Euston to Kings Cross platform to platform without running (to be fair a very brisk walk). The only time I use the Underground is if it's absolutely chucking it down.

 

[Ianno87]

I've done 8 minutes Euston to Kings Cross platform to platform without running (to be fair a very brisk walk). The only time I use the Underground is if it's absolutely chucking it down.

And if it could be done in a straight line without having to cross roads etc, it would be possible in 6 or 7 minutes.

 

[miami]

I haven't seen an estimate for when the Crossrail station at OOC is planned to open.

My understanding is that OOC is being built in one go, so when HS2 is open (which relies on OOC opening - scheduled 2026), then at the very least Paddington-Reading/Heathrow trains will stop at OOC, even if the Crossrail tunnel hasn't opened.

Certainly all the drawings I see suggest the entire station being built in one go.

I can't see the Lizzy stopping at OOC until HS2 opens though.

 

[Horizon22]

Weren't there some "travelator" type plans for Euston/StP/Kings Cross or did they get kicked into the long grass?

 

[swt_passenger]

Weren't there some "travelator" type plans for Euston/StP/Kings Cross or did they get kicked into the long grass?

A travelator and airport style people mover were discussed in a 2010 DfT report on options for an alternative to the HS1/HS2 rail link.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/480372/HS2-HS1_report.pdf

I‘d found the link in a previous thread, but suggest it’s somewhat off topic for this thread which is supposed to be only about the building process of what’s been agreed?

 

[Horizon22]

A travelator and airport style people mover were discussed in a 2010 DfT report on options for an alternative to the HS1/HS2 rail link.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/480372/HS2-HS1_report.pdf

I‘d found the link in a previous thread, but suggest it’s somewhat off topic for this thread which is supposed to be only about the building process of what’s been agreed?

No worries, just wondered if there was any progression since, but seems like its going nowhere.

 

[swt_passenger]

No worries, just wondered if there was any progression since, but seems like its going nowhere.

Yes it never seemed likely to me. At surface level it would be almost unbuildable, at high level there’d almost certainly be massive objections from residents.

 

[Ianno87]

Yes it never seemed likely to me. At surface level it would be almost unbuildable, at high level there’d almost certainly be massive objections from residents.

Any "proper" long term solution is almost certainly going to have to be in conjunction with a pretty comprehensive redevelopment of the area between the stations.

 

[hwl]

My understanding is that OOC is being built in one go, so when HS2 is open (which relies on OOC opening - scheduled 2026), then at the very least Paddington-Reading/Heathrow trains will stop at OOC, even if the Crossrail tunnel hasn't opened.

Certainly all the drawings I see suggest the entire station being built in one go.

I can't see the Lizzy stopping at OOC until HS2 opens though.

The GW relief line track platforms and realignment needs the space released by the closure of the Heathrow depot (or rather most of the approach tracks) to get started. It reality I wouldn't expect much GW relief line work to start until the contiguous piling has been done for the HS2 station box walls.

The spoil from the station box (and tunnelling eastwards to Euston) will get conveyor belted via the short tunnels to the crossover box site to the west and from there to Willesden for removal.

 

[miami]

They've got a lot of box construction below ground (and the approach tunnels) to get on with before they can start with the above ground plan. I thought the depot closes after the 332s went out of service (which was december)?

 

[swt_passenger]

They've got a lot of box construction below ground (and the approach tunnels) to get on with before they can start with the above ground plan. I thought the depot closes after the 332s went out of service (which was december)?

The depot was only finally emptied last week. The 332 end of service was delayed, but that’s got a whole thread of its own.

 

[Bald Rick]

Any "proper" long term solution is almost certainly going to have to be in conjunction with a pretty comprehensive redevelopment of the area between the stations.

Much of which is listed, or safeguarded for Crossrail 2.

 

[Dave_Cardboard]

Helicopter flight from Northolt tube station to West Hyde along the line of route and a few laps of West Hyde site.

 

[HSTEd]

The only annoyance I have is I wish the British Library wasn't there - we could have put the high speed staiton between existing Euston and KGX/St Pancras.

 

[AL1875]

Helicopter flight from Northolt tube station to West Hyde along the line of route and a few laps of West Hyde site.

Does anyone know when those TBM's are due to start boring? Looks imminent to me (a few months) from that video!

 

[Yindee8191]

Does anyone know when those TBM's are due to start boring? Looks imminent to me (a few months) from that video!

It’s been consistently ‘early 2021’ for the last year or so, so theoretically any time now.

 

[Phillipimo]

Helicopter flight from Northolt tube station to West Hyde along the line of route and a few laps of West Hyde site.

It's a shame they zoom in on the aggregate site at 06:54 which has nothing to do with HS2! Otherwise a really interesting video thanks for sharing.

 

[yorkie]

Good to see we are back on topic now, but we did have some off topic yesterday. Just a gentle reminder this thread is to discuss HS2 construction updates only.

If anyone wishes to discuss potential future service patterns, timetabling, journey planning, or anything else, please create a new thread (if there isn't one already) in the appropriate forum section.

 

[TheHSRailFan]

Helicopter flight from Northolt tube station to West Hyde along the line of route and a few laps of West Hyde site.

Excellent!

 

[Phillipimo]

I came across this video from the Chiltern Society showing construction progress in the Chilterns. The images can also be seen on the Chiltern Society website.

 

[BrianW]

I came across this video from the Chiltern Society showing construction progress in the Chilterns. The images can also be seen on the Chiltern Society website.

57 mins? I'll need to set aside time, which I guess Chiltern Soceity folk have?!

 

[PeterC]

57 mins? I'll need to set aside time, which I guess Chiltern Soceity folk have?!

A 57 minute Power Point presentation by somebody who seems to be an even more boring public speaker than I am and that takes some doing.

At least they do acknowledge that we knew that it was coming, unlike some of the antis who express shock and surprise when the bulldozers appear.

 

[Gostav]

Camp Locations - HS2 Rebellion

Each camp is unique and independent of each other. These camps DO NOT 'belong' to HS2 Rebellion, or any other organisation.

www.hs2rebellion.earth

It seems there are more protests on the route.

 

[zwk500]

It seems there are more protests on the route.

There were plenty before the Euston Square (e.g. the Roald Dahl wood), and they were ended fairly quickly without significant press attention. As these aren't remotely near central London, I think the Euston Square protesters will continue to be an outlier rather than the new normal.

 

[JamesT]

Anti-HS2 tunnel protest at Euston ends as final activist leaves | UK news | The Guardian

The anti-HS2 tunnel protest close to Euston station in central London has finally ended after the ninth climate activist emerged from underground.

Hopefully this means HS2 can get on with work in that area now the protesters are gone.

 

[miami]

Midlands-based Collins Earthworks prepares HS2 construction site for launch of tunnel boring machine

300,000m3 of material excavated, ready to be recycled 120 people have carried out earthmoving work since April 2020 Warwickshire site now ready for tunnel boring machine to dig under ancient woodland Images available here...

mediacentre.hs2.org.uk

Midlands-based construction firm, Collins Earthworks, has completed excavating the north portal site of Long Itchington Wood Tunnel, ready for the launch of the tunnel boring machine that will dig under the ancient woodland in Warwickshire.

The company, with headquarters in Ripley, Derbyshire, is contracted to HS2’s main works contractor BBV Joint Venture (Balfour Beatty Group and VINCI Construction), which is responsible for building the northern section of HS2 as it heads into Birmingham.

Since April 2020, 120 people from Collins Earthworks have worked on the HS2 site, with a number of new plant operatives also employed from the area, providing jobs for local people during the pandemic. The team has excavated 300,000m3 of soil, with the topsoil and subsoils stored and separated with a layer of straw, so they can be put back in the same way after the tunnel has been built.

Report goes on, with pictures

 

[kevin_roche]

Midlands-based construction firm, Collins Earthworks, has completed excavating the north portal site of Long Itchington Wood Tunnel, ready for the launch of the tunnel boring machine that will dig under the ancient woodland in Warwickshire.

The company, with headquarters in Ripley, Derbyshire, is contracted to HS2’s main works contractor BBV Joint Venture (Balfour Beatty Group and VINCI Construction), which is responsible for building the northern section of HS2 as it heads into Birmingham.

Since April 2020, 120 people from Collins Earthworks have worked on the HS2 site, with a number of new plant operatives also employed from the area, providing jobs for local people during the pandemic. The team has excavated 300,000m3 of soil, with the topsoil and subsoils stored and separated with a layer of straw, so they can be put back in the same way after the tunnel has been built.

Report goes on, with pictures

Midlands-based Collins Earthworks prepares HS2 construction site for launch of tunnel boring machine

300,000m3 of material excavated, ready to be recycled 120 people have carried out earthmoving work since April 2020 Warwickshire site now ready for tunnel boring machine to dig under ancient woodland Images available here...

mediacentre.hs2.org.uk

At the peak of construction on the whole of Phase One, ten tunnel boring machines - each a self-contained underground factory - will work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Weighing up to 2,200 tonnes, each 160m long machine will bore and line the tunnels as they drive forward at speeds of up to 15 metres per day.

It seems to me that for once, the classic measurement of furlongs per fortnight would work well here. That's 1.04 furlongs per fortnight.

 

[Bald Rick]

It seems to me that for once, the classic measurement of furlongs per fortnight would work well here. That's 1.04 furlongs per fortnight.

 

[Jozhua]

Does this mean the TBMs aren’t launching until May? That would be a bit disappointing considering the given date was ‘early 2021’.

Well, for the first while you can walk to the can lol.

Maybe May is the date when the TBMs are expected to be too far away from the starting point to be able to conveniently walk back. It does seem odd that these facilities weren't included in the original design. I wonder why not?

My thoughts exactly ahahaha.

Honestly, you could just go on the rubble conveyor. Probably the easiest solution

I know this seems like quite a far fetched question but when will we see the railway built? Seems like it's mainly still enabling works to prepare for the full build that are still taking place. Is there any rough estimate timeline for all the milestones of the build such as when test trains will be running on the tracks? I know that won't take place for many years to come but I wonder if a rough guideline has been released?

My guess is you don't want to put tracks down too early otherwise they're just going to sit there and go rusty/warped, unless you start doing regular maintenance.

I get the general impression the track laying and OLE can be done pretty quickly, once the right of way has been prepared.