HS2 is hoping to start tunnelling work from Old Oak Common station to the mothballed Euston station next year. A team featuring Costain, Skanska and Austrian firm Strabag has begun work to tunnel the route from West Ruislip to Old Oak Common – which is where HS2 trains will terminate in the capital when the railway first opens. But the same London tunnels team, officially called SCS, is expected to start the tunnel drive to Euston in 2025. The Costain team is already tunnelling from West Ruislip to Old Oak Common
Costain chief executive Alex Vaughan said the team had been told work will start next year and a HS2 spokesperson confirmed: “Two TBMs will be delivered to Old Oak Common later this year, and placed into the underground box, ready to begin boring the Euston Tunnel.”
The Euston scheme was mothballed last March by transport secretary Mark Harper because of concerns about rising costs. But a host of industry bosses have said not building a station at Euston makes no sense. Last week, Keller chief executive Michael Speakman called the move “bonkers” and Vaughan said: “The economic case [to build the HS2 station at Euston] is massive. Look at King’s Cross and all of that redevelopment.”