Public to help name two HS2 tunnel boring machines

Members of the public are being asked to help choose the names for the next two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) that will be used to dig tunnels that will carry HS2 under west London.

The new TBMs are 170 metres long and weigh over 1,700 tonnes, and will build an 8.4-mile-long tunnel from Old Oak Common station to West Ruislip.

Two other TBMs, named Sushila and Caroline, are already boring 5 miles and have already completed one mile of their task.

The two new machines will construct Northolt Tunnel East through Brent and Ealing, with construction starting early next year. The TBMs will initially start towards Greenpark Way in Greenford, then travel 3.4 miles from HS2's Victoria Road site near to the new station at Old Oak Common.

As with the rest of the HS2 TBMs they will be named, and as per convention, they will be named after influential women.

A shortlist of five women with connections to Ealing has been drawn up, with voting now open until Monday, 4th September 2023.

The names on the shortlist are:

• Amy Barbour-James (1906 -1988) who was born in Acton to Guyanese parents. She was active in the civil rights movement and involved in the African Progress Union and the League of Coloured Peoples, of which she became secretary in 1942.
• Lady Anne Byron (1792 – 1860) was an educational reformer and philanthropist. In 1834 she established the Ealing Grove School, which was the first school for the working classes when education was mainly for the wealthy.
• Brigid Brophy (1929 – 1995) was born in Ealing and was a writer and campaigner, with her work focussing on social reform, homosexual parity, animal rights and humanism. She helped to establish the Public Lending Right, which allows authors to claim a payment every time one of theirs book is borrowed from a public library.
• Emily Sophia Taylor (1872 – 1956) was a midwife who provided services for women who could not afford care. She became Ealing's first female mayor in 1938, and was an active member of the Education Committee and the Child Welfare Committee. In 1937 she helped to establish Perivale Maternity Hospital.
• Susan Mary Smee (1859 – 1949) is described as a pioneer who helped other women to follow her example and became Acton's first female mayor in 1924 She was the first Justice of Peace and the first curator of Gunnersbury Park Museum.

The winning names will be displayed on the side of the TBMs before they are lowered into a shaft ready to start tunnelling in the Autumn. Before the TBMs are lowered into the shaft they will be blessed at a ceremony featuring a statue of St Barbara, the patron saint of tunnelling, conducted by a local priest.

Further information about naming the TBMs can be found here and more information can be found about HS2 here.

Speaking about the naming, HS2's Head of Community Engagement, Maddelyn Sutton, said: “As HS2 construction begins to reach its peak, we are preparing to launch our next duo of tunnel boring machines in London. Giving the TBMs names with local connections is a great way for us to celebrate the achievements of women and for the local community to get involved in this once in a generation infrastructure project.”