Why Is The First Bore Of The Bromford Tunnel A Milestone?

 

Following nearly two years of constant excavation, miles of conveyor belts and decades of planning and debate, the longest railway tunnel in the West Midlands has received its first complete bore.

The 3.5-mile Bromford Tunnel connecting Water Orton in Warwickshire and Washwood Heath in Birmingham was a major step forward not only for rail transport in the West Midlands but also provides vindication for a somewhat snakebitten infrastructure project.

The Bromford Tunnel is already an incredible accomplishment, with the TBM Mary Ann’s breakthrough bringing with it the potential to rejuvenate a Birmingham suburb, but its effect on establishing HS2 will perhaps be its greatest accomplishment.

How Was The Bromford Tunnel Constructed?

Bromford Tunnel was excavated using a dedicated 125-metre long tunnel boring machine dubbed Mary Ann, named by the local community after Mary Ann Evans, the Warwickshire writer best known by her most popular pseudonym George Eliot.

Given the groundbreaking nature of Mrs Evans’ novels, which included the likes of Silas Marner, Adam Bede and Middlemarch, it is fitting that a TBM that was set to revolutionise her native Warwickshire would bear her name.

The tunnel bore reached a top speed of 30 metres per day and took a total of 22 months to excavate a million tons of earth and spoil, which was efficiently moved away and is set to be used to construct the Delta Junction viaducts, which will enable the high-speed network to function correctly.

A second bore, undertaken using the TBM Elizabeth, is set to be completed later in 2025, and once both tunnels are completed, the cross-passages, concrete base slabs and finishing works to complete the work started by the TBM will be finished using an expert team of engineers.

Finally, the emergency and maintenance walkways will be completed to make the tunnel complete.

This section is of particular importance given the operational significance of Washwood Heath and its role to play in the operation of HS2 as a whole.

The success of the Bromford Tunnel could arguably have not come too soon for HS2 as a whole, which has a major milestone success to claim after years of complications, debates and troubled circumstances.

The Snakebitten Railway

It is fair to make the claim that High Speed 2 has had an extremely difficult gestation period, marred by difficulties with route selection, cost and the need for several extra tunnels in order to preserve the natural beauty of areas such as the Chilterns.

Part of the problem was that the top of the chain of command changed so frequently that it would be a project overseen by ministers who did not necessarily believe in the vision that had been set out.

Inspired by the TGV service in France and hoping for a similar result, High Speed 2 was originally conceived in 2006, started the process of formal incorporation and planning in 2009 and was initially revealed in March 2010.

Two months later, a General Election would bring uncertainty to the project, but the original plans were reviewed and ultimately approved in 2012, largely unchanged, although the scope would continue to shrink in the following years.

The initial goal was to create a Y-shaped network, which connected London to Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds and the East Midlands via a central hub in Birmingham before connecting to the existing main lines on the west and east coasts of Britain.

However, it would be split into two phases, with the initial London to Birmingham part serving as phase one, whilst the remainder of the project would be completed under phase two.

This part was approved in 2017, but construction only began in 2020, a full decade and four Prime Ministers after the initial proposals.

Within a year, the scope of the project began to shrink dramatically, with the route to Leeds cancelled by the end of 2021, the Golborne link that would have connected HS2 directly to the West Coast Main Line in 2022 and the Manchester route in 2023.

By the end of October in 2023, under one more PM, the route had changed from connecting London to the North West and North East, paving the way for a high-speed rail route across the country to a line between London and Birmingham.

The whole project was nearly scrapped at one point, although it was allowed to continue when it was made clear that no money would be saved by its cancellation.

The Bromford Tunnel represents the power of perseverance, as the tunnel’s completed first bore has reinvigorated a project that looked to be on the brink.