Selected highlights of the past year include:

October 2020: Two huge modular bridges were moved into place at our Interchange station site in Solihull. One 2,750-tonne, 65-metre bridge structure, was installed in just two days. A second, 45 metre, 914 tonne modular bridge over the A446 in Solihull, was moved into place in only 45 minutes [read more here: https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/news/hs2-completes-construction-milestone-as-914-tonne-modular-bridge-is-moved-into-place-in-45-minutes].

November 2020: HS2 invited businesses to tender for £12bn of supply chain contracts to be let over the next 18 months [read more here: https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/news/businesses-invited-to-tender-for-gbp-12bn-worth-of-hs2-contracts].

December 2020: HS2 showed off the progress at the Euston station site [read more here: https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/news/hs2-construction-progresses-at-euston-as-towers-reach-ground-level].

January 2021: Permanent construction of the huge Victoria Road Crossover Box in West London started [read more here: https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/news/hs2-set-to-start-permanent-construction-of-huge-victoria-road-crossover-box].

February 2021: Parliament gave approval to extend the route north to Crewe [read more here: https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/news/hs2-accelerates-north-as-mps-give-go-ahead-to-next-phase-to-crewe].  

March 2021: Work began on the UK’s longest railway bridge, with an expert team of ground engineers sinking the first of almost 300 piles that will form the foundations for the Colne Valley Viaduct [read more here: https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/news/hs2-begins-work-on-uks-longest-rail-viaduct].

April 2021: HS2 revealed the innovative treatment technology behind the ambitious Colne Valley ‘rewilding’ project to create 127 hectares of new grassland and woodland around HS2’s Chilterns tunnel [read more here: https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/news/hs2-reveals-the-innovative-slurry-treatment-technology-supporting-the-colne-valley-rewilding-project].

May 2021: Launched ‘Florence’ – the first of ten Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) that will dig 64 miles of tunnel on Phase One [read more here: https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/news/embargoed-historic-moment-as-hs2-launches-first-giant-tunnelling-machine].

June 2021: The Transport Secretary gave the go-ahead for the start of permanent works on HS2’s west London ‘super-hub’ station, Old Oak Common [read more here: https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/news/transport-secretary-to-give-the-go-ahead-for-start-of-permanent-works-on-hs2s-west-london-super-hub-station].

July 2021: Excavation began for the first of five shafts that will provide ventilation and emergency access to the ten-mile long tunnels being dug under the Chiltern hills [read more here: https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/news/excavation-begins-for-hs2s-first-barn-design-tunnel-vent-shaft].

August 2021: Opened a new railhead near the village of Calvert which will help the project continue to deliver construction material by rail to its biggest Buckinghamshire site without putting extra lorries on local roads [read more here: https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/news/hs2-takes-extra-24-000-hgvs-off-bucks-roads-as-new-rail-freight-depot-opens].

September 2021: Started work restoring one of the world’s oldest railway buildings to incorporate it into HS2’s new Birmingham Curzon Street station [read more here: https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/news/hs2-starts-work-on-restoring-one-of-the-worlds-oldest-railway-buildings].

https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/news/one-year-on-from-start-of-construction-hs2-celebrates-hitting-20-000-jobs-landmark