HS2's first completed green tunnel | Copthall Green Tunnel

Construction on our new high-speed railway is making progress — and the completion of the Copthall Green Tunnel near West Ruislip is something we're pleased to share. The 880-metre cut-and-cover structure was built using 1.2 million cubic metres of excavated material from the nearby Northolt Tunnel. By keeping that material on site, our engineers avoided around 100,000 lorry journeys — a decision that reduced both road traffic and environmental impact. Originally planned as an open cutting, the tunnel was redesigned to sit beneath a restored landscape of trees, hedgerows and wildlife habitats. It won't look like much of an engineering achievement once nature takes over — and that's rather the point. In this video: • How the Copthall Green Tunnel was built and why it was redesigned • The practical steps we took to reduce lorry movements and carbon impact • What makes Copthall different from other structures on our route • How the landscape above the tunnel will be restored over the next two years Copthall is the first of five green tunnels we're building between London and the West Midlands. Our 30,000-strong workforce had its most productive year yet, with almost 80% of our major structures now complete or under construction. 📢 Subscribe for the latest news and updates from Britain’s high-speed railway, HS2. Follow us on social media: 💼 X:   / hs2ltd   📸 Instagram:   / hs2ltd   📘 Facebook:   / hs2ltd   🔗 LinkedIn:   / high-speed-two-hs2-ltd   0:00 Introduction 0:17 Latest update 0:33 Why is the tunnel important? 1:14 What is Copthall tunnel? 1:30 Constructing the tunnel 2:02 West Ruislip Railhead 2:33 Noise barriers 3:04 Surrounding environmental works 3:52 Final thoughts 4:09 Outro #HS2 #Engineering #Construction #CivilEngineering #Infrastructure #Railway #Tunnel #UKEngineering #megaprojects Get in touch: If you have any questions about HS2 or our ongoing works, contact our HS2 Helpdesk team: 📞 Call: 08081 434 434 📧 Email: [email protected]