News on HS2 in Warwickshire

We would like to invite local residents, schools and community groups in Warwickshire to take part in a competition to name the 2,000 tonne tunnel boring machine that will start to dig under Long Itchington Wood this summer.

Tunnel Boring Machine to be used in Long Itchington Wood Tunnel 4

Warwickshire County Council has started the ball rolling with the suggestion of famous local author George Eliot. North Leamington School, Warwickshire College Group, The Coleshill School and Long Itchington Scout Group have also already signed up to take part, and will benefit from a new skills programme aimed at introducing young people to careers in engineering, through virtual education sessions run by ourselves and our contractor BBV Joint Venture (Balfour Beatty Group and VINCI Construction).

Following tradition, tunnel boring machines are always named after women, and we are asking people in the county to help choose a name based on their female role models – whether famous people or unsung heroines. Suggestions will be shortlisted in May and three finalists put to a national public vote, before a winner is announced in the summer.

We have launched an online portal for Warwickshire residents to submit their chosen names and you are encouraged to choose people who have an association with Warwickshire and may include, for example, actresses, artists, scientists, engineers, authors, athletes and musicians. Names may also include the unsung heroines of Warwickshire, including individuals who deserve recognition for their contributions to the local community.

The competition portal will remain open until the end of April, and a final shortlist of nominations will be selected and put to a public vote in May. The winner will be revealed during the launch of the Long Itchington Wood tunnel boring machine this summer.

The 2,000 tonne tunnel boring machine will be operated by BBV and will create a one-mile twin bore tunnel under Long Itchington Wood. It will take five months to dig the first bore of the tunnel, and then it will be extracted at the south portal before being transported by road back to the north portal to commence the second bore.

The tunnel will preserve the ancient woodland in this location, and the final section will form a ‘green tunnel’ - also known as a cut and cover tunnel - where a roof above will return the land to the natural landscape. We’ve already planted 80,000 trees in the Midlands, with an additional 47,000 planted this winter in Warwickshire as part of our green corridor programme that will deliver new woodlands, wildlife habitats and green spaces for people to enjoy.

Around 170 engineers are working on the TBM during its construction and assembly, and a team will then work around the clock excavating the one-mile tunnel. This TBM, along with those soon to start digging under the Chilterns and, a little later in the year, underneath London, is a key element of our role in the Government’s commitment to Build Back Better.

This is the third of our tunnel boring machines to be named by public vote. The first two machines, which are due to start creating the tunnel under the Chilterns, were named after famous local Buckinghamshire women: Florence Nightingale - the founder of modern nursing who spent many years living in Buckinghamshire; and pioneering astronomer and astrophysicist, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who was born in Buckinghamshire.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk