The Mersey Tunnels connect the city of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

with Wirral, under the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

. There are three tunnels: the

Mersey Railway Tunnel The Mersey Railway was the first part of the passenger railway connecting the communities of Liverpool, Birkenhead, and now the rest of the Wirral Peninsula in England, which lie on opposite banks of the River Mersey, via the Mersey Railway Tun ...

(opened 1886), and two road tunnels, the Queensway Tunnel (opened 1934) and the

Kingsway Tunnel The Kingsway Tunnel (or Wallasey Tunnel) is a toll road tunnel under the River Mersey between Liverpool and Wallasey. The tunnel carries the A59. It was built because the Queensway Tunnel – which was built in the 1930s to carry vehicles b ...

(opened 1971). The railway tunnel and Queensway Tunnel connect central Liverpool with

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

, while the Kingsway Tunnel runs to

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...

. The road tunnels are owned and operated by

Merseytravel Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive, responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region in North West England. Merseytravel was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transpor ...

, and have their own police force, the

Mersey Tunnels Police The Mersey Tunnels Police is a small, specialised, non-Home Office police force that provides policing services for the Mersey Tunnels in Merseyside, England. The force, which comprises fifty one officers from Constable to Chief Police Office ...

. In 1967 it was announced that the "Mersey Tunnel Scheme" was now operational. The scheme comprised what was claimed to be the largest closed circuit television system for traffic control outside North America, and featured a bank of 22 CRT monitors. The Queensway Tunnel was used to film scenes for the film ''

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film is the first of two cinematic parts based on the 2007 novel '' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hall ...

'' (2010). This provided Claire House children's hospice in Wirral with a £20,000 windfall, the money being paid to Merseytravel by Warner Brothers, the makers of the film, for use of the Tunnel as a location. In November 2012 scenes for the film ''

Fast & Furious 6 ''Fast & Furious 6'' (titled on-screen as ''Furious 6'') is a 2013 American action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to '' Fast Five'' (2011) and is the sixth installment in the ''Fast & Furious'' franc ...

(2013)'' were filmed in the Queensway Tunnel.

References

External links

Official website of the Mersey Tunnels

Mersey Tunnels Users Association
River Mersey Tunnels in Merseyside Tunnels in Liverpool {{UK-road-stub

See also

References

External links