HS2 admits Euston Tunnel construction is paused

HS2 has said the construction of a 7.2km tunnel between its Euston and Old Oak Common stations will not start next year as previously planned.

A joint venture between Skanska, Costain and Strabag (SCS) is responsible for building the Euston Tunnel in London as part of its main works civils contract. Last year the JV was awarded extra funding for the tunnel work.

This week the SCS JV started preparatory work for the tunnel, launching its third tunnel boring machine (TBM) in London, which it will use to create a tunnel between Old Oak Common station and a logistics hub at Atlas Road in North Action.

This 853m tunnel will be used to deliver materials, including 8,010 tunnel segment rings, to the hub to support the construction of the Euston Tunnel. A conveyor system will be used to remove excavated clay.

But HS2 confirmed that work on the Euston Tunnel, which had been due to begin in 2024, has been delayed following the government’s recent decision to prioritise delivery of the project between Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street. HS2 has not provided a new expected start date.

A spokesperson for HS2 said: “The two TBMs building the tunnel on this section from the Old Oak Common Box towards Euston were scheduled to begin in 2024, but this is now deferred.

“The Atlas Road Logistics Tunnel … is a precursor to this work and is still continuing. The preparation works for the launch of the two TBMs will also continue.”

Malcolm Codling, HS2’s project client for the London tunnels, said: “The Atlas Road Logistics Tunnel is key to how we will be constructing the Euston Tunnel between Old Oak Common and HS2’s Euston station.

“The logistics tunnel allows us to take 70,000 lorry journeys off the local roads that would otherwise have been required and will reduce the impact of HS2’s construction on the local community.”

James Richardson, managing director of the SCS JV, said: “This is our third TBM to launch in London and later this year we will have five machines operating.”

In recent months doubts have repeatedly surfaced about whether the Euston station will be built. It emerged in March that the station’s projected cost has nearly doubled to £4.8bn.

In January, chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he did not “see any conceivable circumstance” in which HS2 would terminate anywhere else than Euston, following a report in the Sun newspaper that plans for the station could be cancelled or delayed.

But levelling up secretary Michael Gove recently said: “There is a debate on whether [HS2’s London terminus] will be Old Oak Common or Euston.”

The prime minister later insisted there is nothing “ambiguous” about HS2’s termination point.