To minimize environmental impact and reduce road congestion, HS2 (High Speed Two) has switched to rail to deliver tunnel ring segments to the West Ruislip Portal site in Hillingdon. The move to rail delivery was made possible by launching two tunnel boring machines, Sushila and Caroline, and the subsequent availability of rail access at the site. The use of 400 freight trains to deliver the tunnel segments during construction is expected to reduce the carbon impact of the logistics operation by approximately 2,250 tonnes.
The London tunnels contractor for HS2, the Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture, has been receiving deliveries of tunnel ring segments by freight train since February 2023. The tunnel ring segments, manufactured by Pacadar UK based in Kent, are intended for the Northolt Tunnel West. Pacadar UK is strategically located to facilitate rail freight deliveries.
The Thamesport plant on the Isle of Grain in Kent has produced 60,000 tunnel ring segments, which will make up 8,400 rings for a five-mile twin-bored tunnel. More than 120 trains have already made the journey between the Isle of Grain and West Ruislip, with an average of five trains a week carrying the tunnel ring segments. Each train carries 144 segments which, once installed underground, will form over 20 tunnel rings.
“By using 120 trains instead of lorries to move tunnel segments from Thamesport to our TBMs in West Ruislip, we’ve curbed transport-related emissions by 750 tonnes of CO2 so far, reaching the remarkable milestone of a million avoided lorry miles. This is just the beginning. Overall, across the life of our partnership with Pacadar, we’re projected to reduce our carbon impact by 2,250 tonnes,” said James Richardson, Managing Director of Skanska Costain STRABAG.
