page_title: Rotherhithe Tunnel
section_title: Usage
hierarchical_section_title: Rotherhithe Tunnel / Usage
caption_attribution_description: English: Entrance to the Rotherhithe Tunnel, London, United Kingdom.
context_page_description: The Rotherhithe Tunnel is a road tunnel under the River Thames in East London, connecting Limehouse in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets north of the river to Rotherhithe in the London Borough of Southwark south of the river, designated the A101. It was formally opened in 1908 by George, Prince of Wales, and Richard Robinson, Chairman of the London County Council. It is an extremely rare example of a road tunnel where road traffic, pedestrians and cyclists all share the same tunnel bore. Transport for London took over ownership and maintenance of the tunnel in 2001.
  It should not be confused with the nearby earlier more historic Thames Tunnel, designed and built under the supervision of Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel, used by London Overground for the East London Line.
context_section_description: Like many other London tunnels and bridges, the tunnel carries far more traffic than it was designed for. Shortly after opening 2,600 vehicles a day, mostly horse-drawn, and 14,000 pedestrians a day soon were using the tunnel — figures which were seen as easily justifying the expense of its construction. By 1955, usage had quadrupled to 10,500 vehicles a day and by 1997 usage had tripled again, to over 34,000 vehicles a day. The heavy usage, particularly during rush hours, can lead to significant congestion and tailbacks.
  The junctions at either side of the tunnel are the constraints to any further growth therefore current traffic levels have remained at 1997 levels. Pedestrian numbers are now very low at around 20 per day, whilst cyclists number between 150 and 200 per day.
  With the launch of the Ford Model T car only months after the tunnel opened, initiating a rapid increase in car ownership, by the late 1920s motor vehicles had all but replaced horse-drawn vehicles, which were eventually banned altogether in 1952. The original ventilation system consisted of two fans supplying fresh air in each of shafts 1 and 4 to a duct below the roadway which in turn feed via 28 grilles spaced evenly along the road into the tunnel. Following several incidents, including one where 49 people were taken to hospital, in 1930 the ventilation was upgraded, more powerful fans were added and extract fans added in shafts 2 and 3. As traffic has increased, periodically the ventilation fans have been upgraded however the underlying concept has remained the same.
  Alternative crossings include Tower Bridge to the west or the Greenwich foot tunnel to the east. Rotherhithe station is almost adjacent to the southern tunnel entrance, and Limehouse (in Ratcliffe Lane) is the closest station to the northern entrance.
  Local buses used to serve the tunnel in the past. Route 82 ran between Stepney East Station (now Limehouse) and St. Marychurch Street in Rotherhithe, before being withdrawn in 1968. The tunnel remained unserved until route P14 commenced in 1988 from Surrey Quays and the Isle of Dogs. This route was withdrawn and partially replaced by a new 395 route in 1999 running from Limehouse (Burdett Road) instead of the Isle of Dogs. The 395 route was withdrawn without replacement on 28 April 2006, due to high running costs and low passenger usage. By this time it was the only Transport for London bus route that still used mini-buses, which were necessary due to the tunnel's width restriction.
  The opening credits of the 1970s TV series The Professionals feature the Rotherhithe Tunnel whilst the 1951 film Pool of London features a police chase scene in the tunnel and shoot-out up and around the shafts. The video for The Specials' song "Ghost Town" was partially filmed in the tunnel.
caption: The southern tunnel portal.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Aperture 3.0.3", "Image DateTime": "2010:06:26 13:14:05", "Image ExifOffset": "204", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "11", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:06:26 13:14:05", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:06:26 13:14:05", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "4357/570", "EXIF ApertureValue": "11257/1627", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "49", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3888", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2592", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "195065/44", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "102433/23", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}