HS2 TBM Progress

[LNW-GW Joint]

The Euston tunnel progress map has been updated for 2 April (6 days from the previous update).
Madelaine has 7003m remaining, Karen 7124m.
That means 47m and 45m progress respectively, or 7-8m/day if the dates are accurate.

Interactive route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

Presumably they will stop for a break over the Easter holidays.

 

[Geogregor]

Presumably they will stop for a break over the Easter holidays.

I thought they only stop for Xmas period.

 

[Tezza1978]

I thought they only stop for Xmas period.

I think its 24/7 operation and yes they only shutdown for Xmas (in a similar way to many major factories that do similar and even then only for planned maintenance)

 

[Snow1964]

Some videos has been uploaded of Chiltern tunnel vent shaft headhouses which appear to have been landscaped. Looking like sites virtually finished.

 

[Dave61]

Some videos has been uploaded of Chiltern tunnel vent shaft headhouses which appear to have been landscaped. Looking like sites virtually finished.

They are a lot more complex than the Victorian Tunnel vents - they were just an open round structure.
I guess the rest is access/power/control as it does seem rather a lot.

 

[Snow1964]

The Euston tunnel progress map has been updated for 2 April (6 days from the previous update).
Madelaine has 7003m remaining, Karen 7124m.
That means 47m and 45m progress respectively, or 7-8m/day if the dates are accurate.

Interactive route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

Presumably they will stop for a break over the Easter holidays.

The In your area map was updated 18th April

Madeline 6782m remaining, (223m in 16 days, or nearly 14m per day)
Karen 7059m remaining, (65m in 16 days, average of just 4m per day)

 

[hwl]

The In your area map was updated 18th April

Madeline 6782m remaining, (223m in 16 days, or nearly 14m per day)
Karen 7059m remaining, (65m in 16 days, average of just 4m per day)

Good to see Madeline finally hitting close to the average expected pace.

 

[Snow1964]

HS2 have released update that all the cross passages in Northolt tunnel now constructed. Expect to be ready for track and overhead installation by end of year.

The team building the Northolt Tunnel for HS2 have reached a new milestone, completing the construction of 34 cross passages.

Cross passages connect the northbound and southbound tunnel and are a safety feature which allows passengers to cross to the adjacent tunnel in the event of an emergency.

The Northolt Tunnel is 8.4 miles long, running underground between West Ruislip Victoria Road in Ealing, west London – just outside HS2’s Old Oak Common station. At its deepest point, the tunnel is 35 metres below ground. The tunnel was constructed using four tunnel boring machines (TBMs) and the excavation was finished in June 2025.

Following completion of the cross-passages, engineers will turn to the installation of reinforced concrete secondary collars, which will form the permanent openings for cross passage doors and enable the installation of permanent fire-rated sliding doors.

It is expected that all structural works on the tunnel – the second longest on the 140-mile route between London and the West Midlands – will be completed later this year. The tunnel will then be readied for installation of the rail systems such as tracks and overhead power in the coming years.

Cross passage construction complete on HS2’s Northolt Tunnel in London

All 34 cross passages for the Northolt Tunnel have been mined deep under London Watch a video showing the cross-passage construction

mediacentre.hs2.org.uk

 

[Snow1964]

The In your area map was updated 18th April

Madeline 6782m remaining, (223m in 16 days, or nearly 14m per day)
Karen 7059m remaining, (65m in 16 days, average of just 4m per day)

Latest updates from in your area map

Madeline 6681m remaining updated 1st May (101m progress)
Karen 7035m remaining (says updated 30th May 2026 ! ) 24m progress

 

[Snow1964]

Latest updates from in your area map

Madeline 6681m remaining updated 1st May (101m progress)
Karen 7035m remaining (says updated 30th May 2026 ! ) 24m progress

Latest progress from In your area map

Madeline 6586m to go, updated 8th May (95m progress)
Karen 6940m to go, updated 8th May (95m progress)

So both seem to be achieving about 13-14m per day

Interactive route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Latest progress from In your area map

Madeline 6586m to go, updated 8th May (95m progress)
Karen 6940m to go, updated 8th May (95m progress)

So both seem to be achieving about 13-14m per day

Interactive route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

Which puts Madeleine under the Grand Union canal alongside the western portion of Kensal Green Cemetery, with Karen about to pass under the bridge carrying the WLL over the GWML.

They will quite soon pass closely north of the tomb of Isambard Kingdom Brunel* in the eastern side of the cemetery.

The first engineering target will be the Salusbury Road ventilation shaft at 5.3 km to go, which should be in about 3 months time at the latest rate.

* no doubt cueing poor jokes about him "turning in his grave" about HS2

 

[Snow1964]

From in your area map, updated 22 May

Madeline 6514m to go (was 6586m 8 May) 72m slowed down
Karen 6801m to go (was 6940m 8 May) 139m bit slower than early May

Interactive route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

 

[absolutelymilk]

From in your area map, updated 22 May

Madeline 6514m to go (was 6586m 8 May) 72m slowed down
Karen 6801m to go (was 6940m 8 May) 139m bit slower than early May

Interactive route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

Karen has been updated for 29 May:
6,757m to go, so 44m in 7 days (6.3m/day).

No update for Madeline though!

In other news, the first cross-passage door has been fitted in the Chiltern tunnels

New photos show HS2’s first tunnel safety door being installed

The first safety-critical cross-passage door has been installed inside HS2’s 10-mile-long Chiltern Tunnel, as the railway progresses from a tunnelling site into a working railway.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The Euston tunnel TBM locations have been updated for 5 June.
Madelaine has 6456m to go (58m in 14 days since the last update on 22 May, or about 4m/day).
Karen has 6635m to go (122m in 7 days since 29 May, or 17m/day).

So for whatever reason, Karen has caught up on Madelaine and is only 179m behind.
Karen's daily rate at 17m/day is the best since either TBM started up.

Both TBMs are now off the GWML route and are under the west end of Kensal Cemetery and very close to the line of the Grand Union Canal.

Route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

 

[Snow1964]

The Euston tunnel TBM locations have been updated for 5 June.
Madelaine has 6456m to go (58m in 14 days since the last update on 22 May, or about 4m/day).
Karen has 6635m to go (122m in 7 days since 29 May, or 17m/day).

Per route map

Madeline, updated 17 June, 6262m to go (192m since last update)

Karen, updated 17 June, 6456m to go (179m since last update)

reminder, the tunnels are about 7200m, so Madeline has dug nearly a kilometre.

Interactive route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

 

[BRX]

It looks like tunnel segments are now being moved from Grain (where they have been temporarily stored I think) to Willesden.

 

[76020]

Update from 24/06/2026
Madeleine has completed her first kilometre
Karen has now dug 814 metres

HS2 Tunnel Tracker

A website to track and visualise the progress of High Speed 2 (HS2) tunnel boring machines from London to Birmingham.

tunneltracker.com

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

If I've got the correct updates (the last one was for 19 June), there was a "jump" in progress which didn't correlate with the previous positions (17 June).

Route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

I haven't seen an update for 24 June yet.
Both TBMs are advancing quite quickly beneath Kensal Green Cemetery.

 

[Geogregor]

Interesting article about surveying the HS2 tunnels in London:

Surveying the HS2 tunnels in London

As part of Britain’s new high-speed railway project (HS2), six tunnel-boring machines have been driving through clay, sand and ever-shifting gro...

www.gim-international.com

 

[76020]

Update from 1st July
Madeleine has now dug 1.2km and Karen is closing in on her first kilometer at 983m.
Both have dug 169 metres in the last 7 days.

HS2 Tunnel Tracker

A website to track and visualise the progress of High Speed 2 (HS2) tunnel boring machines from London to Birmingham.

tunneltracker.com

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Update from 1st July
Madeleine has now dug 1.2km and Karen is closing in on her first kilometer at 983m.
Both have dug 169 metres in the last 7 days.

HS2 Tunnel Tracker

A website to track and visualise the progress of High Speed 2 (HS2) tunnel boring machines from London to Birmingham.

tunneltracker.com

Madelaine is now adjacent to the tomb of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in Kensal Green Cemetery, and will shortly pass under the A404 and be under urban London for the rest of its drive.

The dates above don't quite match those on the official HS2 progress tracker, which shows data for 26 June.

Interactive route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

 

[76020]

Madelaine is now adjacent to the tomb of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in Kensal Green Cemetery, and will shortly pass under the A404 and be under urban London for the rest of its drive.

The dates above don't quite match those on the official HS2 progress tracker, which shows data for 26 June.

Interactive route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

Thanks for pointing this out, both TBM's must be a bit nearer Euston on 1st July then what I quoted. Madelaine is digging an average of 9.2 meters per day, while Karen is carving out an average of about 11.7 meters per day.

 

[76020]

An update from the Tunnel Tracker website for 9th July
Madelaine is showing as 1.4 km completed
Karen is not far behind at 1.1 km

HS2 Tunnel Tracker

A website to track and visualise the progress of High Speed 2 (HS2) tunnel boring machines from London to Birmingham.

tunneltracker.com

There has been no update from official HS2 progress tracker since 3rd July

Interactive route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

 

[Geogregor]

An update from the Tunnel Tracker website for 9th July
Madelaine is showing as 1.4 km completed
Karen is not far behind at 1.1 km

HS2 Tunnel Tracker

A website to track and visualise the progress of High Speed 2 (HS2) tunnel boring machines from London to Birmingham.

tunneltracker.com

There has been no update from official HS2 progress tracker since 3rd July

Interactive route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

So if there was no official update from the HS2 where the Tunnel Tracker takes their figures from?

 

[absolutelymilk]

An update from the Tunnel Tracker website for 9th July
Madelaine is showing as 1.4 km completed
Karen is not far behind at 1.1 km

HS2 Tunnel Tracker

A website to track and visualise the progress of High Speed 2 (HS2) tunnel boring machines from London to Birmingham.

tunneltracker.com

There has been no update from official HS2 progress tracker since 3rd July

Interactive route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

I think this is a delayed update from Tunnel Tracker, rather than being newer than the official tracker. Both show 5,842 metres to go for Madeleine.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Both TBMs are making very good progress at 20m/day or better, and Madeleine is now at Harrow Road.
The next target will be the first vent shaft at Salusbury Road (just south of the WCML alignment at Queens Park station), at about 5300m from Euston.
Madeleine should be there in about 4 weeks at the current rate.

Interactive route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

 

[hwl]

Both TBMs are making very good progress at 20m/day or better, and Madeleine is now at Harrow Road.
The next target will be the first vent shaft at Salusbury Road (just south of the WCML alignment at Queens Park station), at about 5300m from Euston.
Madeleine should be there in about 4 weeks at the current rate.

Interactive route map

Use HS2’s interactive map to explore the entire route of Britain’s new high-speed railway. Find present and upcoming works, tunnels, station locations and community updates — all in one easy-to-navigate map.

www.hs2.org.uk

The plan from what we can establish was slow to start with then fast over the summer and autumn (when the TBM were sufficiently deep and going fairly straight) with big break at Christmas and final push early next year.
Progress look to be roughly on plan.

 

[mythnormadman]

They have updated the progress for the TBMs. They have either been rocket powered or they have got it wrong. I've emailed a query to them. I'm inclined to say that where they put "remaining" it should say "completed"

 

[absolutelymilk]

They have updated the progress for the TBMs. They have either been rocket powered or they have got it wrong. I've emailed a query to them. I'm inclined to say that where they put "remaining" it should say "completed"

Assuming that you are correct, looks like they have each done over 200m in the 7 days since the last update, excellent progress!

 

[mythnormadman]

I have received a response:

You are correct in saying that the TBM progress was inaccurate - the distance tunneled to date was entered rather than the distance remaining, and we will ensure this reads correctly moving forward.

I've not checked the web site to check they have updated the details yet.