CAPITAL FOCUS
HS2’s Northolt tunnels are half complete. JAMES ABBOTT reports
Work is continuing apace on construction of the Northolt tunnels for HS2, which will accommodate the high-speed line from the portals at West Ruislip to the terminus (at least initially) for the line at Old Oak Common. The Skanska Costain Strabag joint venture responsible for this section of the line is delivering a pair of running tunnels under north west London. The route closely follows the line of the ‘Wycombe Single’, the route formerly used by the Great Western Railway’s Birkenhead to Paddington expresses to enter London.
The easternmost part of this route, where the line to Birkenhead parted company with the GWR main line to the west, will be occupied by HS2’s Old Oak Common station, now taking shape on the site of the GWR’s former loco shed. The rest of the Wycombe Single is now a freight line, serving an aggregate siding at North Acton Junction. The
remaining single line is more heavily used at the western end, from the semaphore-signalled Greenford West Junction (where the Greenford loop from the GW main line joins the Wycombe Single) to Northolt Junction, where it links with the Chiltern line running towards High…
