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Faster rail journeys from London to Birmingham – with the port of Hartlepool’s help

[ July 25, 2023   //   ]

The port of Hartlepool is playing its part in speeding rail journeys between London, the Midlands and the North of England.

Civil engineering firm Strabag has started production of over 83,000 concrete tunnel segments, weighing 7 tonnes each, for HS2 London-Birmingham high-speed rail line at a new facility at Hartlepool docks.

Located in an area previously used for the fabrication of oil rigs, the new facility has been fitted out with a state of the art automated segment carousel and reinforcement hall with robots controlled by telemetry producing the reinforcement cages required for each segment.

The location boasts excellent transportation links, both by road and sea, and Strabag has brought the rail head adjacent to the site back into use.

Over 100 jobs have been created at the Hartlepool facility, including six new apprenticeships and a number of formerly unemployed people recruited from the local area. Strabag is also utilising the local supply chain, sourcing aggregate from local quarries and using UK recycled steel.

The segments will be used to construct the Northolt tunnel east and Euston tunnel, respectively 3.4miles and 5 miles long.

From the summer, a 20 wagon train will depart from the site to HS2’s London logistics hub daily, six days a week, increasing to twice daily as production increases.

HS2 will, when complete, allow trains to travel the 110 miles from London to Birmingham in around 50 minutes – the same time that local train operator Northern takes to complete the 25 mile journey from Hartlepool to Newcastle.

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