Two giant tunnelling machines, named Karen & Madeleine after prominent figures in rail and engineering, to dig the final 4.5 miles of underground high-speed railway & carry HS2 trains to Euston.

The gently-curved 3.4 kilometre (2.1 mile) long structure on London’s north-western edge will carry high speed trains running to and from the capital at speeds of up to 320km/h (200mph).

A 90-strong specialist team has assembled the 1,600-tonne machine set to build the second bore of Bromford Tunnel.

The viaduct near Denham (Bucks) – one of HS2’s landmark structures – will carry high speed trains at speeds of up to 200mph for over two miles across the Colne Valley between the line’s London and Chiltern tunnels.

The 2.7km Greatworth ‘green tunnel’ will be built on the surface before being covered by earth, trees and shrubs to fit in with the Northamptonshire countryside.

Harefield’s Moorhall Road has reopened after HS2 engineers completed a key 40-metre span that will form part of the high-speed rail project’s record-breaking Colne Valley Viaduct.

Four piles were installed using a hydrogen dual-fuel piling rig, cutting the use of traditional fuel by 36%. This is the first real-world use of the technology on a construction site.

Running alongside what will become the UK’s longest viaduct, the temporary bridge allows construction vehicles to cross a series of lakes and waterways near Denham on the outskirts of London.

Two of the UK’s biggest infrastructure projects celebrated a joint milestone this week after a new bridge - that will carry direct rail services between Oxford and Cambridge - was lifted into position over the route of HS2, the high speed rail line under construction between London, Birmingham and the North.

In the next step on its journey towards fully diesel-free construction sites by 2029, HS2 has announced that 10 sites are now diesel-free, smashing the project’s original target of one diesel-free site in 2022.