WORK to enable the Victoria Road Crossover Box to be built in Acton for the HS2 rail link is now complete.
The site is to the west of where a new Old Oak Common station is being constructed.
The huge underground box will house a crossover track mechanism that will allow trains to switch between tracks, up to a speed of 62 mph, on the approach and descent from Old Oak Common.
It will have a volume equivalent to 55 Olympic swimming pools or 800,00 bath tubs and will need reinforcement of roughly a third of the weight of the Eiffel Tower.
The site at Victoria Road is also currently being prepared to launch the boring machines that will bore 3.4 miles north west, as part of the 8.4-mile Northolt Tunnel.
James Richardson, of Skanska Costain STRABAG Joint Venture, said: "Our team are making great progress on constructing the crossover box.
“As we continue to build the HS2 tunnels and shafts between West Ruislip and Euston, we are growing our workforce."
HS2 and its main contractors began main works construction in April 2020.
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