Major Midlands HS2 tunnel 'structurally complete' after more than four years

HS2 engineers have installed the final roof segment for the 700-metre-long Burton Green tunnel.

The 16-metre-wide twin-box-shaped tunnel will carry high-speed trains beneath Burton Green, near Kenilworth.

Internal walls separate trains travelling north to Birmingham, Manchester and Scotland, and trains travelling south towards HS2’s two London stations in Old Oak Common and Euston.

Engineers and ecologists will now begin working towards the tunnels 500-metre-long ‘green roof’ to ensure it blends with the greenery and does not disrupt the views for locals.

Senior project manager for HS2 Ltd, Doug Barnett, said following the completion of the main civil engineering, they can now begin the next phase of the “exciting project”, thanking the hard work and dedication of the “150-strong team on the ground”.

Local communities have been guaranteed access to the new green space which links both sides of the village of Burton Green. Once the project for the tunnel is complete, the Kenilworth Greenway will run above the new tunnel to provide a link from Balsall Common to Kenilworth for walkers, cyclists and horse-riders.

Material that was excavated for the construction of the tunnel will be reused for wider landscaping works.

Planting of native trees and shrubs will widen the biodiversity habitats for wildlife and re-establish vegetated connections to Black Waste Wood and Little Poors Wood, in order to keep the area as ‘green’ as possible.