HS2 tunnelling machines complete first of 10 miles under the Chilterns

HS2's huge Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) have continued to rip through stunning English countryside as they plough yet more concrete into the earth

Is there light at the end of the tunnel? The £100billion high-speed network's latest phase tore enormous holes for 10 miles under the much-loved Chilterns near the village of West Hyde in Hertfordshire

A member of the HS2 team pauses on a stretch of the tunnel as he walks towards the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) named Cecilia, after astronomer and astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, yesterday

A dramatic photograph shows the tunnel leading up to the monster Tunnel Boring Machine being used to dig for HS2. The rail industry is bracing for a downsizing of a major section of HS2, together with the project's ballooning price tag - especially after the economic harm of the pandemic

The high-speed rail line has recently come under fire from critics who have questioned whether the project is worth its ballooning price tag

Aerial pictures showed the devastation caused by the 557ft TBMs as acres of greenery was turned into a building site with stacks of metal and stone piled up in front of two vast burrows

Furious campaigners argued HS2 - which will run between London and Birmingham - poses 'a grave threat to the UK's ancient woods, with 108 at risk of loss or damage'. Pictured: The tunnel entrances near West Hyde

HS2 blasted back at campaigners saying that only 0.29 square kilometres (0.11 square miles) of ancient woodland will be lost during the first phase. It comes after Tory backbencher Andrew Bridgen told the Commons the project will be 'loss-making' and won't be completed before 2041 - around 10 years later than planned

Ten 170 metre-long tunnel boring machines, which weigh up to 2,200 tonnes, will work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to bore and line the tunnels, covering around 15 metres per day. The tunnel boring machine will head south towards London to begin digging the tunnel, while a second tunnel will also be dug to create the twin bore tunnel. Each of the two tunnels will take around five months to dig. Pictured: A construction worker near concrete tunnel lining ring segments

The final stage will see a 'green tunnel' built, where a soil 'roof' is constructed around the tunnel entrance to integrate it within the natural landscape, according to HS2's website. Pictured: A huge crane at the site to lift the concrete slabs

A construction worker is pictured laying the concrete floor along a stretch of the HS2 tunnel yesterday. Work suspensions, social distancing and reduced productivity over the past 12 months saw HS2's costs soar by another £1.7bn in September - with the project's estimated overall budget now swelling over £106billion

Pictured: The huge tunnel entrances near West Hyde yesterday. Meanwhile, Northern leaders and the rail industry are braced for a downsizing of the a major section of the HS2 in a report expected to be published during or after the Cop26 summit

A construction worker gives an idea of the scale of the cranes and concrete slabs being used to line the tunnel as he directs the operator yesterday. The high-speed rail linking Birmingham and Leeds, also known as the 'eastern leg', is no longer expected to be laid in full. It means HS2 trains will run at slower speeds on existing track for as much as 60 miles of the distance between the two cities

Pictured: A member of the HS2 team speaks with a colleague as he walks along a stretch of the tunnel beneath the Chilterns yesterday. Journey times could take about an hour rather than 40 minutes, according to sources familiar with plans being considered by ministers. However, a compromise is said to have been struck following pressure from pro-HS2 northern leaders which could still see around 80 miles of high-speed track laid