Building Britain’s longest railway bridge for HS2 passes halfway point

  • Video from HS2

Britain's new high speed rail line HS2 has passed the half-way point building the UK’s longest railway bridge.

The viaduct near Denham in Buckinghamshire will eventually carry high speed trains at speeds of up to 200mph for over two miles across the Colne Valley between the line’s London and Chiltern tunnels.

Construction of its 56 piers to carry the deck across both land and water began in December 2021.

For the past 18 months a massive launching girder has been working its way south across the valley, one pier to the next, to lower and fix into place the viaduct’s deck segments.

Sir Jon Thompson, HS2 Ltd’s Executive Chair, said: "HS2 is by far the biggest and most ambitious infrastructure project in the UK and it’s fantastic to see phenomenal feats of civil engineering like the Colne Valley Viaduct taking shape.

"The enormous progress made in the last three years along the length of the route between London and the West Midlands is testament to the skill and dedication of the thousands of people who work on this transformational project every day."

Colne Valley viaduct half complete Credit: HS2

Last month Rishi Sunak confirmed the high speed line from Birmingham would terminate in central London after he axed the planned leg to Manchester.

The revised station will have six platforms instead of 10. A proposed foot tunnel to Euston Square Underground station will not be built.

The Prime Minister also said £6.5bn earmarked for Euston would be spent on transport projects in other parts of the country.

However, HS2 will not be extended to Euston unless enough private investment is secured.

Mr Sunak’s commitment to extend the high-speed railway to the central London station is contingent on a substantial proportion of the cost being met by private funds.

Extending HS2 to Euston involves digging a 4.5-mile tunnel from Old Oak Common and building a six-platform station next to the existing West Coast Main Line terminus.

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