Path is cleared for HS2 tunnel completion

The 1.55 mile (2.5km) Chipping Warden tunnel will be covered with greenery, project managers have said

The construction of a major tunnel on the HS2 line has taken a major step forward.

The Chipping Warden tunnel in Northamptonshire will take high speed trains underground for 1.55 miles (2.5km).

A short section of the A361 was closed for 11 days so the carriageway could be repositioned above the tunnel and it reopened on Friday.

HS2 Ltd senior project manager Hugo Rebelo thanked people for their "patience" and said there was a "clear path ahead".

The A361 stretches between Banbury in Oxfordshire and Daventry in Northamptonshire.

HS2 project managers refer to the infrastructure at Chipping Warden as a "green tunnel", because it will be covered with greenery so as to blend into the landscape.

The concrete structure is designed in an "M" shape for southbound and northbound trains

"We've had some serious challenges with the Chipping Warden green tunnel, so it's great to see the A361 permanently diverted and a clear path ahead for the completion of the tunnel," said Mr Rebelo.

The new section of the A361 joins the Chipping Warden Relief Road, which was completed by HS2 in 2022 to take traffic away from the centre of the village.

Assembled from precast concrete segments, the tunnel is designed in an "M" shape, with separate halves for northbound and southbound trains.

HS2 says the concrete tunnel will be covered by earth, trees, shrubs and hedgerows

Alexei Bond, a project director at contractor EKFB, said he was "delighted" with progress over the past year.

"Although this is a welcomed milestone in the delivery programme, there is still much to do to connect the central part of the tunnel to finish the structure," he said.

HS2 aims to improve journeys between London and Birmingham while freeing up space on the existing West Coast Main Line for more freight and local services.

Its opening was expected by 2033, but in June the government announced this target would not be met and no updated timescale has yet been provided.