HS2’s first rail tunnel has been completed following the excavation of a 3.5-mile stretch of earth, officially forming the Bromford tunnel.
The tunnel, which connects Warwickshire and Birmingham and is set to be the longest railway tunnel in the West Midlands, begins in Water Orton and ends in Washwood Heath.
Since the beginning of the excavation process, the Washwood Heath site has seen the development of a 24-hectare brownfield site, which is intended for both commercial and logistics space usage and will generate over 1,000 new jobs for local residents.
Lord Hendy, Rail Minister, who attended the breakthrough event, said:Today marks a major milestone for the country’s biggest infrastructure project, opening up the HS2 gateway to Birmingham. This is the longest railway tunnel ever built in the West Midlands. It’s truly a monumental feat of engineering and represents huge progress.
Creating jobs, providing opportunities, and supporting economic growth are at the heart of this project. 10,000 people and 400 businesses across the West Midlands alone are delivering this project as we speak, bringing £10bn to the region’s economy over the next decade. There is a lot of hard work still to do to get this project back on track. But today people in the West Midlands can start to see this Government’s Plan for Change connecting people with jobs, housing, and opportunity.
The Tunnel Boring Machine, affectionately named Mary Ann by the local community to commemorate the Warwickshire-born writer, who is better known by her pen name, George Eliot, successfully excavated roughly one million tonnes of spoil during its journey.
The excavated earth will now be repurposed to support the construction of the Delta Junction, a network of 13 viaducts that will allow high speed trains to travel between London, Interchange Station (Solihull) and Birmingham Cutzon Street Station.
