Wapping Tunnel
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Wapping or Edge Hill Tunnel in
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 ...
, England, is a tunnel route from the Edge Hill junction in the east of the city to the Liverpool south end docks formerly used by trains on the Liverpool-Manchester line railway. The tunnel alignment is roughly east to west. The tunnel was designed by
George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...
with construction between 1826 and 1829 to enable goods services to operate between Liverpool docks and all locations up to
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, as part of the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively ...
. It was the first transport tunnel in the world to be bored under a city. The tunnel is long, running downhill from the western end of the long Cavendish cutting at Edge Hill in the east of the city, to
Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from May ...
Goods Station near
Wapping Dock Wapping Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England, and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the southern dock system, connected to Salthouse Dock to the north, Queen's Dock to the south. King's Dock was originally located to th ...
in the west. The Edge Hill portal is near the former
Crown Street Station Crown Street Station was a passenger railway terminal station on Crown Street, Liverpool, England. The station was the world's first intercity passenger station, opening in 1830, also being the railway terminal station for Liverpool. Used for p ...
goods yard. The tunnel passes beneath the
Merseyrail Northern Line The Merseyrail Northern line is a cross-city railway running from in south Liverpool then (by way of an underground section through Liverpool's city centre) to termini in the north at (Merseyside), (Lancashire) and (Merseyside). It and t ...
tunnel approximately a quarter of a mile south of Liverpool Central underground station.


History

Liverpool is built on an escarpment running down to 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 ...
. The original proposal for the railway out of Liverpool was a route north along the docks and riverbank. This route proved problematic with local landowners. The new route entering the city centre from the east required considerable engineering works in addition to the tunnel. The 1-in-48 gradient of the tunnel was much too steep for the power of the steam locomotives of the day. A large stationary steam engine was installed at the Cavendish cutting at Edge Hill in a short tunnel bored into the rock face on the side of the cutting, near a decorative Moorish Arch spanning the cutting. Goods wagons were hauled by rope up from the Park Lane goods station at the south end docks. The goods wagons were hitched to locomotives at the Edge Hill junction for the continuing journey to all locations from Liverpool to Manchester. The tunnel opened in 1830 and closed on 15 May 1972. The dockside portal to the tunnel is clearly visible on Kings Dock Street. This was the middle of three short exit tunnels at the western end, which met in a short open ventilation cutting between Park Lane and Upper Frederick Street. The quoted length of includes both the main tunnel and the short exit tunnel. The Edge Hill entrance is still open to the atmosphere, however not accessible to the public. The portal is the central of three tunnels at the western end of the Cavendish cutting. The right hand tunnel is the original 1829 tunnel into
Crown Street Station Crown Street Station was a passenger railway terminal station on Crown Street, Liverpool, England. The station was the world's first intercity passenger station, opening in 1830, also being the railway terminal station for Liverpool. Used for p ...
. The left hand tunnel is the later 1846 tunnel into the Crown Street goods yard. This tunnel currently has tracks, for use as a headshunt and locomotive run-round for goods trains. However, artwork from before the third tunnel was constructed shows that a portal was already present from the outset - this was purely for architectural symmetry and is, in fact, a store room. Other visible evidence of the tunnel still exists, in the form of three imposing red-brick ventilation towers. One is on the landscaped park between Crown Street and Smithdown Lane, one on Blackburne Place (''illustration''), and one close to Grenville Street South. There were at least two others that were later demolished, one adjacent to Great George Street, and one by Myrtle Street.


Plans for partial reinstatement of tunnel

In the 1970s, during planning work for the
Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line and Wirral Line, which are dedicated electri ...
underground in Liverpool city centre, there were two proposals to use parts of the Wapping Tunnel or
Waterloo Tunnel The Waterloo Tunnel in Liverpool, England, is a former railway tunnel, long, which opened in 1849. Its western end was at 53.414829, -2.994385, underneath Pall Mall. From here the line continued under Great Howard Street to Waterloo Goods r ...
(Victoria Tunnel) to connect Liverpool Central underground station and Edge Hill junction. During the construction of the Merseyrail network in the 1970s a part of the new tunnel south out of Central Station passed over the Wapping Tunnel at right angles. The new tunnel dropped into the upper part of the Wapping tunnel reducing its height. This would require lowering the floor of the tunnel at this point to allow trains to pass. When the junction on the Northern Line tunnel south of Central station was built in the late 1970s, two header tunnels were constructed to cater for branching into the Wapping Tunnel. In May 2007 it was reported that
chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of
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 ...
, Neil Scales, had prepared a report outlining the possibilities for reuse of the tunnel. The November 2016 refresh of Mersytravel's Long Term Strategy references a "Wapping Tunnel Scheme" in Network Rail's CP7 period. Merseytravel hope to re-use the tunnel to create new underground connections into burrowing junctions south of Liverpool Central station on the Northern Line to allow trains to run between Central station and Edge Hill station and beyond. Merseytravel commissioned a feasibility study into the re-opening of the tunnel which was completed in May 2016. The study was focused on using the Wapping Tunnel to connect the Northern and City Lines together and the possible creation of a new station along the route to serve the city's Knowledge Quarter. The report found that the Wapping Tunnel was in good condition though suffered from flooding in places and would require some remedial work, however the concept of re-opening the tunnel was viable.


See also

*
Victoria Tunnel (Liverpool) The Victoria Tunnel in Liverpool, England is a long rail tunnel. Opened in 1849, its eastern portal is adjacent to Edge Hill station. The western portal opens into a short () cutting, between Byrom Street and Fontenoy Street, the shorter W ...


References


External links

*
Subterranea Britannica: Liverpool - Edge Hill Cutting & Tunnels

Engineering Timelines
{{Coord, 53, 23, 59, N, 2, 58, 11, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Railway tunnels in England Rail transport in Liverpool Buildings and structures in Liverpool Edge Hill, Liverpool Tunnels completed in 1830 Tunnels in Liverpool 1830 establishments in England