page_title: Southampton Tunnel
hierarchical_section_title: Southampton Tunnel
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of the Southampton Civic Centre Tunnel engineering works, taken from the footbridge over Southampton Central station, looking at the mouth of the tunnel. Various bits of equipment and materials can be seen. The engineering works took place over the period of December 2009 to January 2010. Evening and weekend closures occurred first, and then the tunnel was completely closed over the Christmas period.
context_page_description: Southampton Tunnel is a railway tunnel that runs beneath the Civic Centre in the centre of the Hampshire city of Southampton, in England.
  The tunnel was constructed by the Southampton and Dorchester Railway to connect together the stations of Southampton Terminus and Southampton West End, which was subsequently relocated and presently known as Southampton Central. Directed by the experienced civil engineer Samuel Morton Peto, the majority of the tunnel was constructed using traditional cut-and-cover techniques. Its route mirrored that of the Salisbury and Southampton Canal, an incomplete project that had partially built an earlier tunnel; the presence of this earlier engineering work would negatively impact the project, causing damp and a partial collapse during construction. The opening of Southampton Tunnel had to be delayed until two months after that of the rest of the line, being finally opened to traffic for the first time during August 1847.
  Carrying a pair of tracks throughout its length, it has been periodically operated as a single-track tunnel only while periodic remedial work was performed.
context_section_description: Southampton Tunnel (alternatively known as the Southampton Civic Centre Tunnel) is a railway tunnel that runs beneath the Civic Centre in the centre of the Hampshire city of Southampton, in England.
  The tunnel was constructed by the Southampton and Dorchester Railway to connect together the stations of Southampton Terminus and Southampton West End, which was subsequently relocated and presently known as Southampton Central. Directed by the experienced civil engineer Samuel Morton Peto, the majority of the tunnel was constructed using traditional cut-and-cover techniques. Its route mirrored that of the Salisbury and Southampton Canal, an incomplete project that had partially built an earlier tunnel; the presence of this earlier engineering work would negatively impact the project, causing damp and a partial collapse during construction. The opening of Southampton Tunnel had to be delayed until two months after that of the rest of the line, being finally opened to traffic for the first time during August 1847.
  Carrying a pair of tracks throughout its length, it has been periodically operated as a single-track tunnel only while periodic remedial work was performed. Southampton Tunnel has been used by a variety of direct passenger services connecting as far as London. In addition, the tunnel has facilitated large amounts of freight movements to and from the Southampton Container Terminal. During the 2010s, it was subject to extensive reengineering works, successfully raising both its loading gauge and maximum speed for container traffic.
caption: Engineering works at Southampton Tunnel, December 2009 to January 2010
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