00:00Yes, it's a landmark day for the long-anticipated HS2 radio.
00:05In the railway line, Ministers have pledged a redeveloped Euston station, which will
00:09be big enough.
00:10To serve the nation, as tunneling began for the last miles of the high-
00:15speed railway into central London, excavating-
00:20the 4.5 mile tunnels from Old Oak Common in West London.
00:25It's expected to take between 12 to 18 months, although details on-
00:30of the terminus and how it will be funded are yet to be revealed.
00:35The first of two 1,600-ton German-made tunnel boring machines-
00:40to drive to Euston were switched on at the Old Oak Common station site.
00:45By the Rail Minister, Peter Hendry, and Keir Starmer's Chief Secretary, Darren Jones.
00:50Here's what Ministers and workers down at the scene of the tunneling had to say.
00:55to move as quickly as possible.
00:56The important thing for Houston as well
00:57is once this tunnel is bored and the station is built,
01:00we can get on with unlocking the housing
01:02and commercial development in and around Houston,
01:04even if we are still
01:05waiting for the trains to come through.
01:06The Department for Transport is working
01:07with the Ministry of Housing, Communities
01:09and Local Government.
01:10The Mayor of London and also the relevant council
01:13to make sure that we're all working together on a...
01:15kind of development corporation for Houston,
01:17but there'll be plenty of interest based
01:18on public and private capital.
01:20the development opportunities that that brings.
01:22But we want to make sure it delivers for local people
01:23in London with things like affordable...
01:25housing and education and job opportunities,
01:27as well as all of the commercial opportunities
01:28that it'll unlock for business.
01:30Look, this railway was never going to be
01:33the contribution to the British economy.
01:35It could have been without it getting a century loan.
01:37This government arrived just in time to authorise this...
01:40these machines to work and here they are,
01:42going to work, going all the way to Houston
01:44and bringing their own...
01:45the railway to Central Road.
01:47This has been a Herculean job.
01:50to grasp the project in mid-flow,
01:52where nobody really knew what had been delivered...
01:55We are resetting Hs2.
01:57Been a year's worth of work to put everything
01:59back into the right...
02:00sequence.
02:01We're getting very close to the end of that.
02:03Look, I really thank people's patience.
02:05just like in the Elizabeth Line.
02:06We've got to do that work diligently.
02:08So, we're getting very close...
02:10to the reset and what that would mean.
02:12When do you think we will go?
02:14Oh...
02:15You know, the key issue is...
02:17we do it diligently, carefully...
02:20everything we find, we look at and double-check.
02:22So, I'm not going to put a timescale on it.
02:24But I'm...
02:25I'm not going to say...
02:26we're very, very close and near the end.
02:28Well, Houston is one of the major developments...
02:30sides of London.
02:31Hs2 plays a role in that.
02:33The Department for Transport are actually...
02:35the people developing the station.
02:37We, along with Network Rail and Transport for London...
02:40an intrinsic part of it.
02:41So, these tunnels are so important...
02:44because they deliver...
02:45the high-speed trains into a high-speed terminal.
02:48But, of course, Houston is much more of that.
02:50It's a new tube station, a new Network Rail concourse...
02:53and, of course, a very significant...
02:55development in that area.
02:56So, Hs2 is one element of it...
02:59but not all of it.
03:00hs2.
03:01h2 is the number of ones...
03:03h1.
03:04h2.
03:05H2.
03:06h1.
03:09H2.
03:11H2.
03:12H1.
03:13H2.
03:14h2.
03:16h2.
03:17H1.
03:18H3.
03:20H2.
03:21H2.
03:22H2.
03:23H2.
03:24H2.
03:25H1.
03:26H2, H1.
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