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The table below lists many of the tunnels under the River Thames in and near London, which, thanks largely to its underlying bed of clay, is one of the most tunnelled cities in the world. The tunnels are used for road vehicles, pedestrians, Underground and railway lines and utilities. Several tunnels are over a century old: the original Thames Tunnel was the world's first underwater tunnel.
Name Type Between Opened Carries Notes Thames Cable Tunnel Utility tunnel Former Tilbury power station↔Eastcourt Marsh sealing end compound 1970 Power cable 1,675 metres (5,495 ft) long, carries two 400 kV circuits;[1][2] depth 46 metres (151 ft), only accessible by authorised personnel High Speed 1 tunnels Railway tunnel West Thurrock, Swanscombe 2007 High Speed 1 Dartford Tunnel (eastern) Road tunnel May 1980 A282 road Dartford Tunnel (western) Road tunnel 18 Nov 1963 A282 road, European route E15 Dartford Cable Tunnel Utility tunnel 2005 Power cable Barking cable tunnel Utility tunnel Barking, Thamesmead 1920s[3] Power cable Docklands Light Railway tunnel Railway tunnel King George V, Woolwich Arsenal 2009 Docklands Light Railway Crossrail tunnels Railway tunnel Woolwich, North Woolwich 2014[5] Elizabeth line Tunnel construction completed in 2015; rail service began 24 May 2022.[4] Woolwich foot tunnel Pedestrian tunnel[6] Woolwich, North Woolwich 26 Oct 1912 Footpath The chief engineer was Maurice Fitzmaurice. Thames Barrier Flood barrier Woolwich, North Woolwich 1984 Service tunnel only accessible by authorised personnel. Millennium Dome cable tunnel Utility tunnel[7] Millennium Dome, West Ham 1999 Power cable 2.8-metre (9 ft 2 in) diameter, only accessible by authorised personnel Silvertown Tunnel Road tunnel London Borough of Newham 7 Apr 2025 Northbound and Southbound Jubilee line tunnels Railway tunnel North Greenwich tube station, Canning Town station 1999 Jubilee line Blackwall Tunnel (eastern) Road tunnel 2 Aug 1967 A102 road Blackwall Tunnel (western) Road tunnel London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Royal Borough of Greenwich 22 May 1897[8] A102 road Engineer was Alexander Binnie. Isle of Dogs Jubilee line tunnels Railway tunnel Canary Wharf, North Greenwich tube station 1999 Jubilee line Docklands Light Railway tunnel Railway tunnel Island Gardens, Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich 1999 Docklands Light Railway Greenwich foot tunnel Pedestrian tunnel[6] Millwall, Greenwich 1899 Footpath The chief engineer was Alexander Binnie. Deptford cable tunnel Utility tunnel[9] Deptford, Wapping Power cable Jubilee line tunnels Railway tunnel Canada Water station, Canary Wharf 1999 Jubilee line Rotherhithe Tunnel Road tunnel, pedestrian tunnel Rotherhithe, Limehouse 12 Jun 1908 A101 road The chief engineer was Maurice Fitzmaurice. Thames Tunnel Railway tunnel Wapping, Rotherhithe 1843 East London line, London Overground Marc Brunel. The world's first underwater tunnel, now part of the Overground network. Originally a foot tunnel. New Cross to Finsbury Market Cable Tunnel Utility tunnel New Cross Substation - Wellclose Square Substation 2017 Power cable Tower Subway Utility tunnel, tube railway, pedestrian tunnel 2 Aug 1870 Water pipe, optical fiber Peter W. Barlow and James Henry Greathead. The world's first underground tube railway. A rail tunnel for 3 months only, then a foot tunnel. Currently carries pipes and fibre-optic lines. Northern Line (Bank branch) tunnels Railway tunnel London Bridge tube station, Bank and Monument stations 1900 Northern line (Bank branch) City & South London Railway tunnels Railway tunnel Borough tube station, King William Street tube station 1890 City and South London Railway Originally rail tunnels, now disused. The world's first electric tube railway, with tunnels only 10 feet 2 inches (3.10 m) in diameter, became disused in 1900 when new 11-foot-6-inch (3.51 m) tunnels to the east replaced them Waterloo & City line tunnels Railway tunnel Bank and Monument stations, Waterloo tube station 1898 Waterloo & City line Bankside Cable Tunnel Utility tunnel[10] Bankside, Blackfriars 1940s Power cable Northern line (Charing Cross branch) tunnels Railway tunnel Waterloo tube station, Embankment tube station 1926 Northern line (Charing Cross branch) Bakerloo line tunnels Railway tunnel Waterloo tube station, Embankment tube station 1906 Bakerloo line Bankside–Charing Cross cable tunnel Utility tunnel[10] Bankside substation to Charing Cross substation, partly runs beneath Hungerford Bridge Power cable Jubilee Line Extension tunnels Railway tunnel Waterloo tube station, Westminster tube station 1999 Jubilee line Victoria line tunnels Railway tunnel Vauxhall tube station, Pimlico tube station 1971 Victoria line Wimbledon – Pimlico cable tunnel Utility tunnel[7] 1996 Power cable Battersea steam tunnel Utility tunnel Battersea, Pimlico 20th century Water pipe Used to carry steam under the Thames to the Churchill Gardens estate. Battersea exhaust tunnels Utility tunnel Battersea, Pimlico 1920s Two tunnels run under the Thames from the station and arrive on either side of Chelsea Bridge. London Power Tunnels Utility tunnel Wimbledon, Kensal Green 2018, 2011 Power cableThe figure and list above leaves out a tunnel to the site of the old Ferranti power station on the east side of the mouth of Deptford Creek.
There is also a tunnel between Cottons centre and the old Billingsgate Fish Market near to London Bridge. Citibank used it for cabling at one point; it was large enough for a person to walk through. [citation needed]
The Silvertown Tunnel will open on 7 April 2025.
The Thames Tideway Tunnel, due for completion in 2025, will be a 25 km (16 mi) long tunnel running mostly under the tidal section of the River Thames through central London to capture, store and convey almost all the raw sewage and rainwater that currently overflows into the river.
London's abundance of river tunnels has resulted from a number of factors. For historical reasons,[clarification needed] the city centre has relatively few railway bridges. Only three railway bridges exist in central London, only one of which provides through services across the capital. Consequently, railway builders have had to tunnel under the river in the city centre rather than bridge it. By contrast, railway bridges are relatively common to the west of the inner city.
Another historical factor has been the presence of the Port of London, which until the 1980s required large ships to be able to access the river as far upstream as the City of London. Until the construction of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at Dartford in 1991, the easternmost bridge on the Thames was Tower Bridge in central London. Even now, the Dartford Crossing provides the only way to cross the Thames by road between London and the sea. The width of the river downstream meant that tunnels were the only options for crossings before improvements in technology allowed the construction of high bridges such as the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge.
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