HS2 Launches 7km Euston Tunnel Under Kensal Green Cemetery

LONDON – HS2 Ltd has installed a commemorative plaque on the wall of the Euston Tunnel, the 4.5-mile twin-bore drive running from Old Oak Common into central London, after its two tunnel boring machines passed directly beneath Kensal Green Cemetery. HS2 Ltd Chief Executive Mark Wild unveiled the plaque with Brunel Museum director Katherine McAlpine and engineers from the Skanska Costain STRABAG (SCS) joint venture. The cemetery is the burial place of Sir Marc Isambard Brunel, who patented the tunnelling shield in 1818, and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

What Is the Full Scope of This Project?

The Euston Tunnel covers 4.5 miles (approximately 7.2 km) of twin-bore running between Old Oak Common and the site of the future HS2 Euston station. Two tunnel boring machines began their drives at the start of 2026, after the UK Government committed to delivering HS2 into central London, and the route is scheduled for completion in 2027 with both machines finishing underground just outside the new station footprint. HS2 Ltd states that its 30,000-strong workforce is delivering the wider London–West Midlands route, and that the tunnel alignment passes beneath sensitive heritage assets including Kensal Green Cemetery, the first of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries opened outside central London between 1833 and 1841.

Key Project Data

How Does This Compare to Similar Projects?

Crossrail, now the Elizabeth line, remains the closest London benchmark: it delivered 42 km of new tunnels beneath the capital and opened in May 2022, roughly six times the length of the 7.2 km HS2 Euston drive. Operator arrangements on that network changed after construction, with Sumitomo Corporation and Tokyo Metro contracted to run the Elizabeth line from May 2025 under a deal lasting up to 9.5 years (Source: Sumitomo Corporation, 2024).

The Brunel reference points are starker. Sir Marc Brunel’s Thames Tunnel, the first tunnel under a navigable river, opened in 1843 after an 18-year construction period and measures roughly 396 m long and 11 m wide, with the tunnelling shield he patented in 1818 doing the excavation (Source: Brunel Museum, 2024). Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Box Tunnel on the Great Western Railway is about 3,212 m long and opened in 1841. The HS2 machines therefore complete in roughly 18 months a drive more than twice the length of Box Tunnel, which was cut by hand and explosives.

Global investment conditions favour this type of work. High-speed rail investment rose 24% worldwide in 2025, with Asia-Pacific accounting for 63% of development activity, while Europe is forecast to record the fastest compound growth rate of any region and urban rail holds a 46% share of metro investment (Source: Rail Market Report, Business Research Insights, 2025). Euston also sits inside the ten busiest London commuter stations, alongside Liverpool Street, Waterloo, Paddington, London Bridge, Victoria, Stratford, St Pancras International, King’s Cross and East Croydon.

Editor’s Analysis

HS2’s decision to formalise heritage monitoring into a public milestone — a plaque, a museum partner, a named TBM crossing point — sets a template other European project owners will face as urban alignments increasingly thread beneath nineteenth-century burial grounds and listed structures. The commercial read is narrower: the deliverability of the Euston terminus, not the tunnelling, remains the programme’s critical path, and the 2027 TBM finish only takes the drive to the edge of the station site. The direction of travel globally supports the spend, with high-speed rail investment up 24% and Europe tipped as the fastest-growing regional market (Source: Rail Market Report, Business Research Insights, 2025).

FAQ

Q: How long is the HS2 Euston Tunnel and where does it run?
A: The tunnel is 4.5 miles (about 7.2 km) of twin-bore running between Old Oak Common and the future HS2 Euston station. It passes directly beneath Kensal Green Cemetery, the burial site of Sir Marc Isambard Brunel and Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Q: When will the HS2 Euston Tunnel be finished and who is building it?
A: The two tunnel boring machines launched at the start of 2026 and the route is due to complete in 2027, with the machines stopping underground short of the new station. The Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture, known as SCS, is delivering this section for HS2 Ltd.

Q: Will tunnelling beneath Kensal Green Cemetery damage the graves?
A: HS2 Ltd says expert teams carry out monitoring before, during and after tunnelling, with detailed assessments and specialist works at sensitive historic sites. No settlement figures, ground movement thresholds or damage reports for Kensal Green have been published, and this has not been officially confirmed.

Q: What was Sir Marc Brunel’s tunnelling shield and does HS2 still use it?
A: Brunel patented a rectangular tunnelling shield in 1818, inspired by the boring mechanism of the shipworm, and used it to excavate the Thames Tunnel from 1825. Modern tunnel boring machines, including those on HS2, operate on the same principle of a shield supporting the face while excavation advances.

Note: Independent verification of the Euston Tunnel contract value, TBM manufacturer, machine names and exact launch dates was not available at time of publication.