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List of tunnels in the United Kingdom

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 84.71.229.251 (talk) at 16:47, 15 May 2008 (→‎Kent: expand massivly). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Tunnels in the United Kingdom is a link page for any road, railway, waterway or other form of tunnel, anywhere in the United Kingdom.

England

Bedfordshire

Cheshire

  • Disley Tunnel, Railway (2 miles, 346 yards; 3535 m)
  • Prestbury Tunnel, Railway, near Macclesfield
  • Sutton Tunnel, Runcorn (1 mile, 125 yards)

Cornwall

Derbyshire

Devon

  • Whiteball Tunnel, Railway (1092 yards; 990m), broad gauge.

Dorset

East Sussex

Essex

Gloucestershire

Hampshire

Isle of Wight

Greater Manchester

Kent

  • Channel tunnel (to France), Railway (31 miles, 635 yards; 50470 m)
  • Dartford Tunnel (1436 m), A282 road northbound (M25 connector)
  • Royal Harbour Tunnel, (800m) Ramsgate - Road
  • Roundhill Tunnel, A20 road near Folkestone - Road
  • Shakespeare Tunnel (1,260m / 1,387 yards), South Eastern Main Line (Railway), Between Dover and Folkstone . Two individual single bore tunnels [1][2].
  • Abbotscliffe Tunnel (1,800m), South Eastern Main Line (Railway), Between Dover and Folkstone. Twin track (ie single bore) [3].
  • Martello Tunnel (500m), South Eastern Main Line (Railway), Between Dover and Folkstone. Twin track (ie single bore) [4].
  • Boxley Abbey to Detling - through the north downs. An entrance was present where the A249 now passes at the foot of Detling Hil. The air shafts are visible to the side of the North Downs Way between Boxley and Detling. A foot tunnel.
  • Ramsgate Harbour Tunnel - Closed rail tunnel.
  • Charlton Tunnel (? m), Chatham Main Line (Railway), Dover.
  • Dover Harbour Tunnel (? m), South Eastern Main Line (Railway), Dover.
  • Fort Pitt Tunnel (428 yards), Chatham Main Line (Railway), Chatham. Twin track (ie single bore)
  • Chatham Tunnel (297 yards), Chatham Main Line (Railway), Chatham. Twin track (ie single bore)
  • Knockholt Tunnel (800 yards), South Eastern Main Line (Railway), near Sevenoaks.
  • Shepherd's Well Tunnel (2138m / 2376 yards), Chatham Main Line (Railway), near Dover.
  • Bourne Park Tunnel (?m), Elham Valley Railway (Railway), East Kent. Closed railway line. Used to hide a giant railway borne artillery piece in World War Two [5].
  • Somerhill Tunnel (?m) Hastings Line (Railway), near Tonbridge. Single track due to low roof, originally twin track with low height stock.
  • Wells Tunnel (?m) Hastings Line (Railway), Tunbridge Wells. Twin track unlike the other tunnels on the same line.
  • Grove Tunnel (?m) Cuckoo Line / Wealden Line (Railway), Tunbridge Wells. Closed on 6 July 1985 with the rest of the Tunbridge Wells West branch, but was not reopened when Spa Valley Railway reopened much of the line. Single track.
  • North Downs Tunnel (3,200m) High Speed 1, near Chatham. Under Blue Bell Hill, this line is to the UIC GB gauge (ie height) rather than the smaller gauges of other, older British railway lines. It is twin track (ie siongle bore), but due to air pressure of opposing trains at high speed, trains are scheduled not to pass at the high speed (the line is 186mph) [6].
  • Tyler Hill Tunnel (828 yards), Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, Canterbury. Underneath the current mains site of the University of Kent, this was built in 1830 for one of the UK's first railways. The line was closed 1953, and part of the tunnel collapsed in July 1974 [7].
  • Greenhithe Tunnel (228m / 253 yards), North Kent Line (Railway), near Dartford.
  • Higham and Strood tunnel (3931 yards / 3595 m), North Kent Line (Railway), near Strood. It was built between 1819 to 1824 for the Thames and Medway Canal. A single track railway was laid on the tow-path in 1845, and was soon doubled by infilling the canal. A 100 yard air vent was cut into the middle when the tunnel.

Lancashire

  • Sough Tunnel, Railway tunnel near Darwen (1 mile, 255 yards)

Leicestershire

  • Ashby de la Zouch Tunnel, Railway
  • Husbands Bosworth Tunnel, Grand Union Canal
  • Saddington Tunnel, Grand Union Canal
  • Glenfield Tunnel, Railway

Lincolnshire

London

See also: Tunnels underneath the River Thames

Merseyside

Norfolk

Northamptonshire

North Yorkshire

Nottinghamshire

Oxfordshire

Shropshire

Somerset

South Yorkshire

Staffordshire

Surrey

Tyne and Wear

Warwickshire

  • Shrewley Tunnel, Grand Union Canal near Shrewley

West Yorkshire

Wiltshire

West Midlands

West Sussex

Scotland

Glasgow

Scottish Borders

Scottish Highlands

  • Nevis Tunnel, part of Lochaber hydroelectric scheme

Dundee

  • A991 Dundee Inner Ring Road, near Ladywell roundabout. Cut and cover tunnel.

Stirling

  • A9, City Centre. Cut and cover tunnel near railway station.

Wales

Monmouthshire

  • Severn Tunnel, Railway (4 miles, 628 yards; 7012 m)
  • Brynglas Tunnels, Newport (M4 motorway)
  • Gibraltar Tunnels, Monmouth
  • Bryn, Hengoed, (Railway, disused)
  • Clydach Tunnels, Abergavenny, (Railway, Disused)
  • Gaer, Newport (Railway, Active)
  • Gelli-felen Tunnels, Brynmawr (Railway, Disused)
  • Hillfield Tunnels, Newport (Railway, Active)
  • Monmouth, (Railway, Disused)
  • Pennar, Crumlin (Railway, Disused,239 yd)
  • Usk, Usk (Railway, Disused, 256 yd)

Glamorgan

  • Cwmcerwyn, Maesteg (Railway, Disused, 1012 yd) Built by the Port Talbot Railway and Docks Company. Single track, curved.
  • Cymmer, Afan Valley (Railway, Disused, 1591 yd) Built by the Great Western Railway. Single track. Straight. North end relandscaped
  • Gelli, Afan Valley (Railway, Disused) Built by the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway. Single track. Short
  • Gylfichi, Afan Valley (Railway, Disused, 1019 yd) Built by the South Wales Mineral Railway. Single track. North end collapsed 1947.
  • Nottage, Porthcawl (Railway, Disused) Built by the Great Western Railway. Single track. Short, south portal relandscaped
  • Abernant / Merthyr (Railway, Disused, 2497 yd) Built by the Great Western Railway. Mainly single track, curved at ends.
  • Cefn-Glas, Abercynon (Railway, Disused, 703 yd) Built by the Great Western Railway. Single track
  • Garth, Taff's Well (Railway, Disused) Built by the Barry Railway Company. Double track. Partly breached by operations at Garth Quarry.
  • Morlais, Merthyr Tydfil (Railway, Disused, 1040 yd) Built by the London and North Western Railway. Double track, curved at west end. 3 airshafts.
  • Quaker's Yard, Abercynon (Railway, demolished) Built by the Taff Vale Railway 1840. Demolished in 1857 when track dualled.
  • Rhondda, Treherbert (Railway, Disused, 3443 yd) Built by the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway. Single track. Longest tunnel in Wales at 3443 yards
  • Tinworks, Treforest (Railway, not completed) Built by the Taff Vale Railway in 1907 to carry mineral line under exchange sidings of the Cardiff Railway at Treforest. Mineral line never completed.
  • Treforest (Railway, Disused, 1323 yd) Built by the Barry Docks Railway. Double track.
  • Union, Cardiff (Railway, Active, Beneath Student's Union building, Cardiff University.
  • Queensgate Tunnels, Cardiff

See also

  1. ^ Kent Rail's page on Shakespeare Cliff Halt, accessed 15 May 2008
  2. ^ Railway People article on the repair work to the 3 tunnels, accessed 15 May 2008
  3. ^ Railway People article on the repair work to the 3 tunnels, accessed 15 May 2008
  4. ^ Railway People article on the repair work to the 3 tunnels, accessed 15 May 2008
  5. ^ [1], accessed 15 May 2008
  6. ^ Page on construction of tunnel, accessed 15 May, 2008
  7. ^ Graham Martin, From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury (University of Kent at Canterbury, 1990) pages 225-231 ISBN 0-904938-03-4
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