Everything’s expensive these days – especially civil engineering. A new railway bridge, which is part of the HS2 London to Birmingham route, will cost £1.6 billion to build. It’s called the River Colne Viaduct, it’s set to be the longest railway bridge in the country, and it is halfway complete after two years of construction.
The Government made waves last October when they announced the scrapping of the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2, but this bridge is on the southern leg and will be of use to those in London, so it wasn’t affected. Trains will get across the two mile long structure in 40 seconds flat. Pretty impressive, eh?
Situated in the Colne Valley just outside of Ickenham, it is a literal bridge between the bustling London metropolis and the calm English countryside, although you’ll be going so fast you won’t see much of it. Here are a couple more renders of what it’ll all look like.
The River Colne Viaduct reached the midpoint in its construction recently, but HS2 won’t be passenger ready until some time between 2029-2033, so don’t get excited to ride over it just yet. You can go and watch them build it from the nearby Colne Valley Park, if that’s your sort of thing. No judgement from us! Live your best bridge-spotting life.
Trains in the news
We at Time Out like to keep up to date on the latest in the world of UK railway news. For instance, did you see that this tiny Welsh town is getting its train station back? Maybe you missed that Network Rail is building a train line in the US, or that this service is ending in June. We also keep you up to date with latest information about ongoing strikes.
Here’s the exact date new King Charles III banknotes will begin circulating.
Plus: Two of the world best beaches are right here in the UK.
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