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Work has begun on a huge new tunnel as the first of two giant boring machines has started burrowing under London. The 1,624-tonne tech was switched on earlier this week at Old Oak Common in west London at the start of a four and a half mile journey to Euston Station in the centre of the capital.

Hailed as a "crucial step", the next stage of the beleaguered HS2 project has been hailed by backers as promising the regeneration of the Euston area. Rail Minister, Lord Hendy, said the Government was putting the high speed railway line, HS2, back on track. He said: "Taking the railway into central London is crucial to unlocking its full potential to deliver more jobs, more homes, and a long-term boost to the whole British economy."

The delayed new line connecting London and Birmingham was approved in 2012, but won't open until after the previous target date of 2033. It was expected in 2013 to cost £37.5billion for the entire network, but the price tag for the line between those two cities alone has since spiralled to a staggering £66bn.

Major HS2 construction work at Euston had been halted since March 2023 because of doubts over funding.

In October 2023, then prime minister Rishi Sunak announced the project would rely on private investment in a bid to save £6.5bn of taxpayers' money and it would not be carried out by HS2 Ltd.

The Labour Government said in June last year that a Euston Delivery Company would be formed to oversee development of the area and it was exploring the potential use of private finance.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the project would be reset after "years of mismanagement, flawed reporting and ineffective oversight".

Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, said the launch of the tunnel boring machine was a "brilliant" moment for Britain's railways and there was nothing boring about tunnel boring machines.

Mr Jones added: "We're boosting the links between our big cities across the country to create more opportunities for people to trade, meet and socialise with each other, turning the corner on years of decline."

Once complete, HS2's first services will run between Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street as part of a phased opening. It will later open all the way to Euston, although HS2 has not given a date for either.

The 190 metre long tunnel boring machine built by Herrenknecht AG was shipped to the UK from Germany in 2024 then reassembled in a giant space underground at Old Oak Common.

It took a year for engineers from Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture to prepare the machines for tunnelling, which they will do 24/7.

Euston Tunnel will be a twin-bore tunnel reaching depths of up to 50 metres. By tradition, tunnel boring machines are named after women. The first to start building the Euston Tunnel has been named Madeleine, after Madeleine Nobbs, a former president of the Women's Engineering Society.

The second tunnel boring machine will be launched in the coming months.

Euston was initially planned to have 11 platforms for high-speed trains but that was reduced to six as part of Mr Sunak's October 2023 announcement.

Lord Hendy said there will be space for additional platforms when it is built. He told reporters: "The current design is six (platforms) but the spatial plan that we're looking at will leave space for more because it's inconceivable that we would build this railway at this level of expense without filling it full of trains to go everywhere in Britain."

He said one of HS2's "failures" in its initial design was to "consider it as a completely separate entity". The peer added: "It will have to be connected to the railways of the UK and I would certainly envisage trains leaving Euston to most of northern England when that connection is built. Birmingham is the first stage but thereafter it's going to serve the rest of the nation."

A revised cost and schedule for HS2 will be published this year after a comprehensive review by chief executive Mark Wild, who took up the role in December 2024. Mr Wild said his review is "very close to the end", but refused to give details on the findings, beyond that HS2 services will begin in "the 2030s".

He continued: "I am confident that we're on the right path to delivering HS2 safely and efficiently."

The Chief Exec said the launch of Madeleine was "a show of confidence that HS2 will be built into central London".

HS2 was originally planned to run between Euston and Birmingham, then on to Manchester and Leeds, but the project was severely curtailed by the Conservative Government because of spiralling costs. The first phase was initially scheduled to open by the end of this year.