News

Contractors building HS2 have completed work on a pair of innovative extensions to the southern portal of its longest tunnel to eliminate the possibility of ‘sonic boom’ being created by high-speed trains entering at 200 mph (321 km/h). 

As the rail industry unites under the banner of ‘Railway 200’, to celebrate 200 years of the modern railway, HS2 and the Railway 200 team are calling on those with a connection to Birmingham to get involved.

The historic bronze statue of Robert Stephenson, the great railway engineer, has gone on display at the Locomotion Museum in Shildon.

Siemens Mobility has been awarded four significant contracts by HS2 Ltd and will join key contractors under the Rail Systems Alliance.

Construction of a 14,500-tonne box structure designed to take the new HS2 line under the A46 Kenilworth Bypass in Warwickshire has taken a major step forward, following the successful installation of 120 gigantic beams.

The progress made to deliver HS2 outlined on 30 December 2024 in figures showing that the majority of the deep tunnel drives and earthworks needed for the high-speed railway have now been completed. 

High speed trains due to run on HS2 and further north on the West Coast Main Line will help deliver a “step-change in the passenger experience”, engineers said, as detailed designs for the new fleet are finalised.

HS2’s engineers have celebrated a double milestone in the construction of two huge viaducts that will eventually carry the high-speed railway across a floodplain.

HS2’s Interchange Station in Solihull has taken a step forward after a 20-strong team carefully lifted 15 colossal bridge beams into position.

On 3 September 2024, a viaduct in Northamptonshire has officially become the first on the HS2 project to be completed as engineers working for the high speed rail project installed the last stretch of parapet along the sides.

A specialist cantilever process has been used for the first time in the UK by HS2 to build the first span of a 472-metre-long single track viaduct in the West Midlands.

A 91-metre Carol Green rail bridge designed to carry HS2 over the existing West Coast Main Line near Kenilworth is taking shape, following the successful installation of 83 giant pre-tensioned concrete beams over 13 consecutive weekend night shifts.

HS2 has completed the four huge piers of the Curzon 2 bridge, marking a significant construction milestone on the sequence of viaducts that will take high-speed trains in and out of Birmingham.

Construction of the giant network of tunnels for HS2 has now passed the halfway point, marking a significant milestone for Britain’s new high-speed line. 

The final two major structures being built to bring HS2 into Birmingham have been approved by local councils - marking another significant milestone for the project.