- Hockley Tunnels
Hockley Tunnel is a set of two
tunnel s used by therailway andtram inHockley ,Birmingham ,England . Tunnel One is 136 yards long and Tunnel Two is 160 yards long.History
The tunnel was built by the
Great Western Railway for trains travelling between Snow Hill station inBirmingham and Wolverhampton Low Level station inWolverhampton , and was one of two tunnels on that route, the other beingBlack Lake Tunnel .The next four stations northbound would have been Hockley railway station,
Soho & Winson Green railway station and thenHandsworth & Smethwick railway station andThe Hawthorns railway station .It fell out of use with the closure of Snow Hill station in March
1972 .Present
On
24 September 1995 , services north toSmethwick 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, theMidland Metro , with the addition of overhead electrification. There are tram stops at either end of the pair of tunnelsThe 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) andHandsworth & Smethwick railway station is Handsworth (Booth St) while The Hawthorns remains the same name.Coordinates
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.