Florence was greeted with fireworks and cheers from hundreds of HS2 workers who gathered to witness the moment near South Heath in Buckinghamshire on Tuesday
The 2,000t tunnel boring machine (TBM) Florence, manufactured by Herrenknecht, set off on its journey from the south portal alongside the M25 in May 2021.
The impending arrival of the high-speed railway will lead to the creation of around 41,000 new homes, nearly 31,000 new jobs and more than 700,000 square metres of new commercial floorspace in the region, analysis commissioned by HS2 Ltd found