Booth Industries has completed the first of 300 safety-critical cross-passage doors for the HS2 project at a new factory in Bolton, supporting more than 130 jobs in the north-west.
The purpose-built 600m2 facility – which opened in 2021 – sits alongside the company’s main factory in the heart of Bolton, increasing production capacity while enabling greater automation to support volume manufacturing.
The cross-passage doors will play a crucial role in the safe and reliable operation of the railway by separating northbound and southbound tunnels and giving access in the event of an emergency.
The doors must be engineered to the highest standards to withstand significant pressure changes caused by trains passing at high-speed, as well as extreme heat in the unlikely event of fire within the tunnel.
The doors have undergone rigorous testing to meet the project’s strict safety standards, including extensive fire and fatigue testing to validate their performance in demanding tunnel conditions.
Lessons learned from other tunnel cross-passage doors have been incorporated into the design, helping drive a more consistent approach to standardised doors and sub-systems. This approach supports greater efficiency through manufacturing, installation and commissioning, while also improving consistency across the railway.
Over the coming years, Booth will manufacture and install the doors, supporting UK-based manufacturing and supply chain in the north-west.
Qasir Raza, Head of Delivery Tunnels and Lineside M&E at HS2 Ltd said:
“It’s great to see the first cross-passage door come off the production line. This is a key milestone as we start to transition from civil engineering to installation of the critical systems needed to operate the railway.
“The cross-passage doors being a key component of the tunnels may not be visible to passengers, but they will play a crucial role enabling us to run a fast, reliable and safe service, day in, day out.”
Once complete, HS2 will transform journeys between Britain’s two biggest cities and free up more space on the existing west coast main line for freight and local services.
HS2 has five deep, twin-bore tunnels between London and the West Midlands covering more than 27 miles in total – the longest of which is the 10-mile Chiltern tunnel. There are a further five cut-and-cover tunnels which total just over five miles in length.
Each tunnel will have walkways along the side in case passengers need to disembark in an emergency. A cross-passage will link the two tunnels with sliding doors at either end. Shallower ‘cut-and-cover’ tunnels will also have emergency walkways, but just one door linking the two tunnels.
Weighing around 600kg each, the doors will be fitted with a finely balanced counterweight system to allow them to be easily opened and closed during an emergency.
Following a successful trial installation in the Chiltern tunnel, lessons learned are now being applied to the wider HS2 programme.
As well as tunnel doors, Booth will also manufacture safety doors for HS2’s Old Oak Common station in West London and other main works civil tunnel assets across HS2
Mike Jenkinson, managing director of Booth Industries, said:
“Booth has over 150 years’ manufacturing heritage in Bolton, delivering performance-critical components for some of the world’s most demanding industries.
“We are proud to be supporting another nationally-significant infrastructure project in HS2. The cross-passage doors contract not only builds on our unique heritage and expertise, but also supports welcome investment in skills and capacity that will drive future growth and secure vital engineering skills in the area.”
“It’s a great feeling to see the first cross-passage doors roll off the production line, marking a significant landmark in the delivery of this contract.
While good progress is being made across the project, there is still a large amount of work to do across the 140-mile route between London and Birmingham. Mark Wild, HS2 Ltd Chief Executive, is leading a comprehensive reset of the project to ensure the remainder of the route is delivered as efficiently as possible and for the lowest reasonable cost.
