This is the huge 10-mile HS2 tunnel being built that will take 200mph trains just three minutes to pass through. Sonic booms can be caused by high-speed trains forcing air forwards when they enter a tunnel - but this has been designed with special measures in place to prevent it. The huge structure heads under the Chiltern Hills and took almost three years to bore through the land. It's on the route to Birmingham - and in June 2024, HS2 Ltd assessed the cost for the line to be up to £66 billion.

I was delighted to join High Speed Two Limited (HS2 Ltd) staff in Ward End to witness the breakthrough of tunnel boring machine “Elizabeth” 🚆 This marks the second breakthrough at Ward End and completes major tunnel excavation between London’s Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street, a huge milestone for HS2 💚 HS2: Transforming Birmingham’s Future ✅ Faster Travel • London to Birmingham in just 49 minutes boosting West Midlands to London connectivity. ✅ Economic Growth • £4 billion boost to

HS2 launching a 316-tonne machine component that will dig its way under west London. A crane was seen lowering part of the massive Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) into the ground, with HS2 emblazoned on the side. This TBM set to dig 3.4 miles of dirt beneath the capital. The 7.10 metre tall and 19 metres long white cylinder is a 316-tonne shield for the machine. It will protect workers from shards of rock as it whirrs through the ground from Victoria Road Crossover Box, Ealing, to Greenpark Way, Gre