The Victoria Tunnel in Liverpool, England is a 1.537 miles 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 Waterloo Tunnel exits the cutting terminating at Waterloo Dock. The Victoria and Waterloo tunnels are effectively one long tunnel connected by a ventilation cutting.
After 46 years of use, the wire rope severed on 16 February 1895. It was decided to abandon the old rope system as locomotives were now much more powerful to climb the whole tunnel incline without assistance. On 12 June 1895 passenger trains were introduced into the tunnel serving the now-demolished Riverside passenger liner terminal station at the Pier Head. From the tunnel portal at Waterloo Goods Station trains ran on the Mersey Docks & Harbour Board’s railway to the Riverside station.
Riverside liner terminus suffered a steep decline in trade during the 1960s as trans-Atlantic passenger trade was diverted to airliners. The last passenger service was in February 1971. The tunnel closed on 19 November 1972. A section of the up-line was retained as a 600 yd (550 m) head-shunt at Edge Hill. The structure of the tunnel is currently generally dry and in good condition. The tunnel is in the ownership of Network Rail, who maintain its structure.
My Visit -
This one was quite fun, although there is not many items left to see, its a great walk under Liverpool, with some nice stone and brickwork to see. We arrived quite early, and had absolutely no trouble finding and getting into the tunnel, the rest is best seen in pictures!