KUALA LUMPUR: The two 3.2 km tunnels from Battersea Power Station, via Nine Elms, has been built as huge tunnel boring machine broke through at Kennington, the first major extension to London’s Tube line since the Jubilee line in the late 1990s.
Since their launch in the spring, two tunneling machines worked around the clock to create the north and southbound tunnels that will extend the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line, Sime Darby Property Bhd, the developer of the Battersea Power Station project, said in a statement yesterday.
The extension of the line was targeted for completion in 2020.
Battersea Power Station is one of central London’s largest, most visionary and eagerly anticipated new town centres in which roughly half the development would comprise of shops, restaurants and office space.
“This breakthrough is a momentous moment for a project that is going to bring huge benefits to south London. The Northern Line Extension is not only going to make travelling to Battersea and Nine Elms easier, it’s also going to bring tens of thousands of new jobs and homes to the area.
“It’s another great example of why new infrastructure is so vital to London’s success and the wider economy,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan was quoted as saying in the statement. — Bernama