Hockley Tunnels are two tunnels used by the railway and tram in

Hockley, Birmingham Hockley is a central inner-city district in the city of Birmingham, England. It lies about one mile north-west of the city centre, and is served by the Jewellery Quarter station. Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter continues to thrive in Hockley, an ...

, England. Tunnel No. 1 is long and Tunnel No. 2 is long.

History

The tunnels were built by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

on the line between Snow Hill station in Birmingham and Wolverhampton Low Level station in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

, and were two of the three tunnels on that route, the other being Black Lake Tunnel. The Snow Hill to Wolverhampton line was opened on 14 November 1854. At first, the tunnels carried two mixed-gauge tracks. In 1908-9 they were widened and two additional tracks were laid parallel to and south of the original lines and were designated as "relief", the original tracks becoming the "main" lines. The tunnels became disused with the closure of Snow Hill station in March 1972.

Present

On 24 September 1995, services north to

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire. In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider bu ...

and onwards to

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

were resumed.I. Baxter and R. Harper, ''Birmingham Snow Hill - A Great Station'', I. Baxter and R. Harper, 2002, p.35 The first day also saw steam-hauled special trains, to Stourbridge Junction. In 1999 the line to Wolverhampton was re-opened as a light-rail (tram) line, the

Midland Metro The West Midlands Metro (originally named Midland Metro) is a light-rail/tram system in the county of West Midlands, England. Opened on 30 May 1999, it currently consists of a single route, Line 1, which operates between the cities of Birmin ...

, with the addition of overhead electrification. There are tram stops at either end of the pair of tunnels,

Jewellery Quarter The Jewellery Quarter is an area of central Birmingham, UK, in the north-western area of Birmingham City Centre, with a population of around 19,000 people in a area. The Jewellery Quarter is Europe's largest concentration of businesses invol ...

to the north, and St Paul's to the south. The north, Metro side of the tunnels is illuminated, to enable tram drivers to see the track ahead. The

stops at tram stops built over former railway stations.

Soho & Winson Green railway station Soho & Winson Green was an intermediate station on the Great Western Railway's London Paddington to Birkenhead via Birmingham Snow Hill line, serving the Soho and Winson Green areas. Opened in 1854 as "''Soho''" station, its name was changed ...

is now Soho (Benson Road) and Handsworth & Smethwick railway station is Handsworth (Booth St) while

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F ...

remains the same name.

References

Coordinates

{, class="wikitable" !Point !Coordinates , - , West Tunnel, west portal , , - , West Tunnel, east portal , , - , Midpoint , , - , East Tunnel, west portal , , - , East Tunnel, east portal , {{coord, 52.48840, -1.90821, name=East Tunnel, east portal Tunnels in Birmingham, West Midlands Railway tunnels in England