Billion-dollar project: impressive facts about the construction of Britain's longest railway bridge

The construction of the longest railway bridge in Britain is nearing completion, with a length of two miles and a cost of a whopping £1.6 billion. The viaduct between the London and Chiltern HS2 tunnels was built from thousands of segments, each weighing 140 tons.

This is 700 times the weight of the world's largest animal, the blue whale. So far, 700 segments of the deck have been installed, and the bridge is more than half complete, according to the Mirror.

Construction of the bridge began in 2021. The ambitious project, worth about £1.6 billion, is one of the largest single construction works of the first phase of HS2.

When trains start running across the bridge, passengers on HS2 will enjoy incredible views of the countryside in the Colne Valley. The design of the bridge was inspired by the flight of a stone leaping over water, with a series of spans carrying the railroad 10 meters above lakes, a river, and a canal.

Trains will be able to move across the new bridge at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour and cross the entire viaduct in just 40 seconds. The builders note that after the main engineering works, the stage of completing the railway systems will come, which includes laying the track and installing both above-ground electrical networks, wires, and noise screens.

The first part of the HS2 project will connect London with Birmingham, and trains will be able to cover the distance in just 49 minutes. It is expected to be ready between 2029 and 2033. The second phase was supposed to extend the line from Birmingham to Manchester, but it was stopped in October 2023.

If you have the money to spare, you should definitely take the opportunity to ride the Royal Scotsman train. As TravelWise previously wrote, this route starts in Edinburgh and runs through the most picturesque English landscapes.