01-06-2025
Photos show huge HS2 machine being pulled out of the ground
The 850-tonne Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) - named Caroline - was brought to the surface at the Green Park Way site in Greenford, west London, on Sunday (May 25).
Photos show the mammoth machine, with a cutterhead spanning 9.48 metres in diameter, being pulled out of the vent shaft in one piece, using a large gantry crane.
The images also show several flags from around the world hung to the surface, including Great Britain, Austria, Italy, and Turkey.
The machine is called Caroline. (Image: HS2 / SWNS)
The tunnelling machine concluded its 5-mile journey from West Ruislip in April, arriving in an underground reception chamber.
The machine, named by a local school after the astronomer Caroline Herschel, is the second of four TBM's used to construct part of the 8.4-mile-long Northolt Tunnel.
This new tunnel will take HS2 trains from Old Oak Common Station to the outskirts of the capital.
The machine will make new tunnels for HS2. (Image: HS2 / SWNS)
In total, TBM Caroline excavated over 1.2 million tonnes of earth and installed 4,217 tunnel rings, HS2 said.
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The first machine to arrive at Green Park Way, named Sushila, was removed in March this year.
Malcolm Codling, client director for HS2 Ltd, said: 'We're immensely proud of the work we have done to complete the second breakthrough for the Northolt Tunnel underneath the capital.
'As we focus on delivering Britain's new high speed railway between London and the West Midlands, we are gearing up for our most productive year to date on this stretch of the line.'
