This year marks the 200th anniversary of the modern railway. Since the first passengers travelled by train, rail travel has boosted our prosperity and enhanced the quality of our lives.
HS2 staff and contractors are pictured here celebrating this national milestone on a newly built section of Colne Valley Viaduct, the longest railway bridge in the UK – almost a kilometre longer than the Forth Bridge in Scotland.
Britain’s proud industrial past and its bright future in one image: The new viaduct will carry Britain’s new high-speed railway approximately 10m above the surface of the river Colne, and the Grand Union Canal. Until the advent of rail, the Grand Union Canal and other waterways were the most efficient way to transport people and goods, supporting the first industrial revolution. Once built, HS2 will connect our biggest economic centres and has already kickstarted multi-billion-pound plans for regeneration around HS2’s new stations. Developments will feature thousands of new homes, and jobs, as well as new offices, public spaces, and leisure facilities. The investment HS2 has attracted to the West Midlands alone is projected to add £10 billion to the regional economy over the next 10 years, creating 41,000 additional homes and 30,000 new jobs. HS2 is the first new intercity railway to be built north of London in more than a century.