The company behind Britain’s new high-speed railway has today revealed how progress to recreate over 100 hectares of chalk grasslands is helping wildlife to thrive around the southern portal of its tunnel beneath the Chiltern Hills.
A new video from HS2 Ltd shows how habitat is being created on London’s northwestern edge with three million tonnes of chalk excavated during construction of the line’s 10mile long tunnel.
The scheme, known within the HS2 programme as the Colne Valley Western Slopes project, will see 127 hectares of former agricultural land restored to biologically diverse grassland, reminiscent of the rare chalk downlands that are found in pockets across the Chiltern Hills.
Laying either side of the railway, the newly landscaped area straddles the Buckinghamshire-Hertfordshire border. It is being seeded with a variety of plants that thrive in chalky soils including kidney vetch, greater knapweed and sainfoin.
Over 50,000 trees native to southern England will be planted. In particular, the project’s landscape architects are seeking to create new beech tree dominated woodland, which is characteristic of the Chilterns, as well planting declining native species such as box and juniper.
Environment manager Alice Williams said: “Chalk grasslands are unique to southeastern England, but the area they cover has been shrinking for centuries because of reasons including population growth and farming. They support a wide variety of wildflowers, insects, birds and animals, and are crucial for an area’s biodiversity, so when an opportunity comes along to add to the total chalk grassland area – in this case HS2’s Chiltern Tunnel – it needs to be seized.”
Alice explained that construction of HS2’s tunnel under the Chilterns, coupled with its commitment to reuse almost all excavated material onsite, offered a rare opportunity to make of virtue from a necessity.
Alice added: “The tunnel took over three years of continuous boring to complete and produced three million tonnes of chalk.
“Such is the volume of chalky material produced by the tunnelling, that the Western Valley Slopes project has increased Hertfordshire’s chalk grassland area by almost one fifth. In some places the chalk is up to 20 metres deep.”
Now in the second year of its three-year landscape creation phase, the new habitat is developing well, supporting a wide variety of flora and fauna.
Birds including yellowhammer, skylarks, red kites and a breeding pair of little ringed plovers are regular visitors to the area.
The site is also home to at least 10 dragonfly species including the emperor and scarce chaser as well as red-eyed damselfly and rare butterfly species including the marbled white and the Essex skipper.
Once the grassland and planting areas are well established, the hope is for the land to be managed with low-impact methods such as conservation cattle grazing.
Some areas, including its cycle paths, bridleways and viewing points will be open to the public to enjoy by the time HS2 is operational.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- HS2 is Britain’s new high-speed rail line. Once complete, it will almost halve the journey time between London Euston and Birmingham to just 49 minutes, with trains running north via the existing rail network to destinations such as Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow.
- The railway is the most effective long-term solution to capacity constraints on the congested southern end of the West Coast Main Line. Putting intercity trains on a dedicated high-speed line between London and Birmingham releases space on the existing railway for more local, regional and freight services.
- The project is a catalyst for economic growth by fuelling redevelopment around our major new stations in London and the West Midlands – opening employment, housing and leisure opportunities. Research shows £20bn of redevelopment is already being delivered collectively around HS2’s sites in the West Midlands and west London years before the first trains operate.
- Work has started on more than 158 out of 227 viaducts and bridges, the breakthrough of the route’s longest tunnel has been completed and major stations are taking shape.
- Despite recent progress, HS2 is currently undergoing a fundamental reset led by Mark Wild, CEO, to make sure the railway can be delivered efficiently and for the lowest feasible cost.
- Unlike the existing rail network, much of which dates from the Victorian age, HS2 is being built from day one to the highest engineering standards and designed for extreme weather conditions. Real-time sensors will be embedded into the infrastructure to prevent failure, creating a new benchmark for punctuality and reliability.
- Passengers will benefit from an unrivalled 21st century journey experience on HS2’s British-built trains, including seamless mobile coverage, ensuring uninterrupted streaming and calls along the entire route.
- HS2’s construction is supporting jobs across the country. More than 3,400 UK-based businesses are in our supply chain and 33,000 people are helping to deliver our construction programme.
- Five thousand people who were out of work have received training and support to help them launch new careers on the project, and 1,865 people have secured an apprenticeship.
- All HS2 trains will be powered with zero carbon electricity from day one of operation and we are working to significantly reduce the amount of embedded carbon in construction.
