Victorian Thames Tunnel reopens to the public

Mayor of London Boris Johnson tonight (Thursday 11th March) took part in a unique walk through the historic Thames Tunnel connecting Rotherhithe and Wapping, on the eve of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for members of the public to walk the route of the trains.

In collaboration with City Hall and London Overground, and thanks to funding from Museums Libraries Archive: Renaissance, Brunel Museum will guide over 1500 members of the public through the Victorian Thames Tunnel over the next two days. The tunnel first opened to pedestrians in 1843 but has carried passenger trains since 1869. It was closed in December 2007 to allow for the extension of the East London Line and conversion of the route to become part of the London Overground network later this year. 

As the museum and London Overground prepared for tomorrow and Saturday's unique public tours, Boris had the chance to meet with partners and contractors working on the East London Line.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "This is an entirely one off chance for the public to walk through the Thames Tunnel ahead of the reopening of the East London Line, which is running so well to time that we have been able to pause the works to allow for this moment in history.

“You cannot underestimate the importance of the pioneering engineering that went into the Thames Tunnel at the hands of Marc Isambard Brunel and his son, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. This tunnel is without doubt the forerunner to the tube and metros systems we know the world over and this is a great story of old and new London in tandem. What the legacy of this amazing tunnel, first of its kind, has taught us, is the need to always invest in transport infrastructure, the benefits of which are preserved for Londoners for generations to come.”

Munira Mirza, Mayoral Advisor on Arts and Culture said:

"This amazing chance to go through the Thames Tunnel is the perfect ending to this year's East Festival, now in its fourth year. The festival celebrates what makes east London one of the most dynamic parts of the capital and has this year taken place against a backdrop of intense building and innovation ahead of 2012. This is a great chance to remember that as far back as Victorian times, east London was a place of driving change."

Ian Brown, Transport for London managing Director, London Overground said:

"We are delighted that we are able to offer this unique opportunity for Londoners to visit such a historic part of the transport network. I certainly do appreciate people's patience while we have been working on a new London Overground service and we are looking forward to welcoming passengers onto the new service in just a few months time."

-         ENDS –

Notes to Editors:

MLA: MUSEUMS LIBRARIES ARCHIVE. MLA Renaissance: is the MLA’s ground-breaking programme to transform England’s regional museums. Central government funding is enabling regional museums across the country to raise their standards and deliver real results in support of education, learning, community development and economic regeneration.

BRUNEL MUSEUM is located on the site of the only project both father and son, Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel worked on together, the Thames Tunnel. For more information go to www.brunel-museum.org.uk

THAMES TUNNEL FACTS:

•          The Thames Tunnel is an underwater tunnel connecting Rotherhithe and Wapping.

•          It measures 11 m wide, by 6 m high, and is 396 m long, running at a depth of 23 m below the river's surface (measured at high tide).

•          It was the first tunnel known successfully to have been constructed underneath a navigable river, and was built between 1825 and 1843 using Marc Isambard Brunel and Thomas Cochrane's newly invented tunnelling shield technology. The tunnel was completed by Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel, it was his first project aged just 19.

•          The Thames Tunnel opened to pedestrian traffic in 1843 and was visited by Queen Victoria that year.

•          The first 'Fancy Fair' took part in the tunnel in 1852. Fairs were held regularly with entertainers and stalls selling souvenirs.

•          In 1865 the tunnel was formally handed over to the East London Railway and the first passenger trains passed through the tunnel in 1869.

•          Most recently the tunnel has been used by trains from London Underground's East London Line. The East London Line closed on 23rd December 2007 to allow for an extension of the line and conversion of the route onto the London Overground network in time for 2010.

LONDON OVERGROUND EAST LONDON LINE – KEY FACTS & FIGURES

Contractors and partners:

•          The Mayor of London spent time this evening at the Thames Tunnel and neighbouring Brunel Museum in the company of some of the contractors and partners working on the London Overground East London Line including Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Crossrail, and London Overground Rail Operations, plus British Transport Police, the City of London, and the ODA.  Train maker, Bombardier Transportation, and contractor on the ELL tonight donated £500 to the Brunel Museum.

•          The London Overground East London Line will:

-           Provide improved service frequency, and journey times to some of London’s most deprived areas providing a high frequency metro type service and new trains.

-           Connect Dalston Junction to West Croydon, Crystal Palace and New Cross. There will be four new stations on the extended route at Haggerston, Dalston Junction, Hoxton and Shoreditch High Street.

-           Enable people to access a greater proportion of the London employment market more easily and will also make travelling to other areas of London, including key areas of interest in East London, easier than ever before.

PASSENGER DEMAND

•          Prior to its closure, approximately 9 million passengers used the ELL every year (approx 30,000 per day).

•          In 2011 it is predicted that 33 million people will use the London Overground East London Line (approx 100,000 per day).

•          Demand is forecast to increase to 40m in 2016 (approx 120,000 per day). All stations on the route will see an increase in boardings as a result.

IMPROVEMENTS TO JOURNEY TIMES

•          Passengers will be able to make quicker journeys to new destinations.

•          100,000 extra people will have a journey time to Canary Wharf of under 1 hour (currently 4.2 million people are within 1 hour of Canary Wharf). The London Boroughs of Bromley and Croydon benefit most from this increase.

•          100,000 extra people will be able to access The City in under an hour via Shoreditch High Street station.

•          30,000 more people will be able to access Croydon within 30 minutes.

•          Journey time to Canary Wharf, one of the key employment areas of London will be 8.5mins (22%) quicker by travelling from Forest Hill to Canada Water and changing onto the Jubilee line there than travelling via London Bridge (30 mins rather than 38mins).

HIGH QUALITY SERVICES

•          The London Overground East London Line will operate with brand new, 4-car long class 378 trains.

•          New trains have walk-through carriages, wide doors, on-board CCTV, air conditioning and higher capacity. Total passenger capacity of a 4-car 378 train will be 667 passengers.