HS2 Ltd has released time lapse footage of the sidings project, below, which prepares the site for a tunnel portal.
Euston Station is to be the main London terminus for the High Speed 2 rail line and the 11 new platforms to be built will make it twice the size it is now. Twin 13-mile long tunnels will take trains out of London via a new station at Old Oak Common linked to Crossrail. At the southern end will be a tunnel portal, built on the site of the now-demolished carriage sheds, just south of Mornington Street Bridge.
The demolition, which took nine months to complete, was managed by HS2’s London enabling works contractor, Costain Skanska Joint Venture (CSJV), working with demolition contractor Keltbray. Up to 70 people were employed to bring down the sheds, working alongside the West Coast Main Line.
Specialist teams used drones to survey the inside of the Victorian structure, before taking the roof apart. In total, more than 7,000 glazing panels had to be removed from the 250- metre long building. The team then used a mobile crane to remove all 27 of the 50-metre long steel trusses that supported the ceiling.
Out of use since 2004, the sheds were built to house carriages and later used for Royal Mail trains. Surplus track, switches and points removed from the sheds have been donated to the Bluebell railway, a heritage line in Sussex.
HS2’s London programme director Rob Carr said: “The demolition of the old carriage sheds marks an important step forward for the project, clearing the way for the start of construction works next year, and the delivery of one of the most exciting new stations on the HS2 route. I’d like to congratulate the team on a job well done and look forward to moving ahead to the next stage of the project.”
CSJV programme director Peter Jones said: “The CSJV team, consisting of people employed from the local area and other experienced professionals, alongside Keltbray have worked carefully and efficiently to ensure that this structure has been demolished safely. It marks a great milestone in the construction of HS2 and shows the fantastic progress that we are making in Euston and across Area South.”
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