Hockley Tunnel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hockley Tunnel is a set of two tunnels used by the railway and tram in Hockley, Birmingham, England. Tunnel One is 136 yards long and Tunnel Two is 160 yards long.

[edit] History

The tunnel was built by the Great Western Railway for trains travelling between Snow Hill station in Birmingham and Wolverhampton Low Level station in Wolverhampton, and was one of two tunnels on that route, the other being Black Lake Tunnel.

The next four stations northbound would have been Hockley railway station, Soho & Winson Green railway station and then Handsworth & Smethwick railway station and The Hawthorns railway station.

It fell out of use with the closure of Snow Hill station in March 1972.

[edit] Present

On 24 September 1995, services north to Smethwick and onwards to Worcester were resumed. The first day also saw steam-hauled special trains, to Stourbridge Junction.

In 1999 the line to Wolverhampton was re-opened as a light-rail (tram) line, the Midland Metro, with the addition of overhead electrification. There are tram stops at either end of the pair of tunnels

The Metro side of the tunnel is illuminated, to enable tram drivers to see the track ahead. The Midland Metro stops at tram stops built over former railway stations. Soho & Winson Green railway station is now Soho (Benson Road) and Handsworth & Smethwick railway station is Handsworth (Booth St) while The Hawthorns remains the same name.