Wapping/Crown Street Tunnel - Liverpool
Having been into railway tunnels since I started exploring it was on the top of my list to visit the one commonly referred to a ‘The Birth Of The Railway’, it was given this unique name due to it being the first tunnel to be bored underneath a city. From google earth it looks like there was possibly a way down via the cutting using the original steps, one glance down from the bridge however confirmed this was definitely not the case. A straight 40ft drop with remnants of a once functioning staircase is what’s left behind with no way of descending.
Another approach was quickly adopted after a short walk down we arrived at the tunnels western portals. To the right hand side is what’s left of ‘Crown Street Tunnel’. Crown Street opened in 1829 and is recognized as the oldest passenger train tunnel in the world. The Crown Street side of the tunnel was blocked in the 1970’s but part of it can still be accessed from the Edge Hill cutting.
To the left is Wapping tunnel, sitting at over 2000m or 1.26ish miles its one of the longest of its kind I’ve explored. The first thing we noticed was the mobile scaffolding tower just behind the palisade fence at the portals entrance. Nearby building supplies pointed to repair or inspection work taking place, suggesting the rumored re opening of the line could possibly be true.
The first thing to notice was the steep decline the tunnel follows, more notable when looking at the different geological layers of the earth which don’t follow the same gradient. Multiple air shafts lie along the tunnels route offering a perspective to how deep this tunnel really is and giving some ambient natural light. Around 1mile in the Mersey rail can be seen to intersect part of the tunnel, we noticed this firstly by the sound of the passing trains before seeing the concrete reinforcements above, its just on from here where the gradient becomes flat and what resembles an underground lake has formed as a result of a lack of proper maintained drainage.
From the lake a small glimmer of natural light can be seen in the distance, this is the eastern portal on Kings Dock Street. The lake is easily do able in waders but with the eastern portal entrance securely sealed by palisade and bit of welded re bar we decided against the idea.
History
“Wapping Tunnel in Liverpool is a historic, yet hidden marvel of 19th-century engineering, stretching over 2,030 yards beneath the bustling city streets. Opened in 1830 and engineered by the visionary George Stephenson, it was the world's first underground railway tunnel constructed beneath a city. Designed to connect Liverpool’s thriving docks with Edge Hill, it served as a vital freight artery for over a century, transporting coal, cotton, and goods from the port to the heart of the industrial north. Initially, goods wagons were hauled up the tunnel’s steep incline by a stationary steam engine, an innovative system that allowed for smooth transit in a time before powerful locomotives. By the mid-20th century, the importance of the Wapping Tunnel declined as road transportation became more dominant and rail freight began to use other routes. In 1972, the tunnel was officially closed, and since then, it has remained mostly unused. It has become a "derelict" space, although it remains intact and in reasonable structural condition. Today, the Wapping Tunnel lies dormant, Plans for its future use have sparked interest in recent years, with proposals ranging from reopening it as a railway line for Mersey rail to repurposing it as a pedestrian and cycling route, offering a unique transit option and breathing new life into this forgotten piece of Liverpool’s history”.
