Wapping Tunnel

The Wapping Tunnel runs from the Edge Hill cutting to the old Wapping goods station at wapping dock and it is all underground and has vents every so often along the tunnel, some which are still there today, one at the landscaped park where Crown Street station once was and one at one on Blackburne Place 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. Construction started on the tunnel in 1827 and was opened on the 15th September 1830 and closed on the 15th May 1972. The Edge Hill entrance is still open to the air and its the middle tunnel at the Edge Hill Cutting you can go down the tunnel but near the docks end is in quite a bad state with water flooding and the exits which where 3 tunnels that lead into the Wapping station are now blocked up.

 

In the 1970s, during planning work for the Merseyrail underground in Liverpool city centre it was proposed to use part of the Wapping Tunnel to connect Liverpool Central and Edge Hill stations this plan was later changed to use the Waterloo Tunnel before being dropped altogether. However on 17 July 2006 local media reports suggested that Merseytravel was once again considering the scheme using the Wapping Tunnel and Waterloo Tunnel. It was the first tunnel in the world to be bored under a city, the tunnel is 2030m long. Even though the tunnel ran under the busy Liverpool city centre no stations where along the tunnel only at both ends, if the tunnel was reopened many underground stations could open in many busy areas of Liverpool.



Today the whole tunnel is disused and has no track down at all but Merseytravel have said they are thinking about reopening the tunnel for maybe a road from the docks up to edge hill this would cut out traveling through the city and save time it is also a way lorries can bypass traveling through the city.

In the 1970s, during planning work for the Merseyrail underground, there where proposals to use parts of the Wapping Tunnel to connect Liverpool Central and Edge Hill, and work was carried out for this connection but abandoned. This would have given Liverpool Central Access to the city line. The work was stopped, mainly due to the successful objections of the local Tory MP at Broad Green. He objected to the disruption of the works realigning the Broad Green junction, which is east of Edge Hill. The Broad Green junction and the branch into the Wapping Tunnel from Central station would have given Liverpool a highly comprehensive metro system. The tunnel passes beneath the Merseyrail Northern Line about a quarter of a mile south of the site of the central station, the northern line actually damaged the wapping tunnel and runs through the tunnel this was due to the Liverpool central high level station tunnel being lowed when it closed and moved to the underground station. Media reports suggested that Merseytravel was once again considering the scheme, using the Wapping Tunnel. It was reported that Merseytravel Chief Executive Neil Scales had prepared a report outlining the possibilities for reuse of the tunnel.

 

The tunnel is owned by Network Rail and has been safeguarded for future rail use since 1972.



Stations Along Wapping Tunnel

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