Longest Tunnels in London

[silverfoxcc]

Went Through the blackheath Tunnel last week and it got me wondering

What are the 10 ( the list doesn't have to stop at 10!) longest tunnels you can travel through in the London Area

The limit of operation is the London Connections map ( Oyster zones 1-9)
And parallel tunnels count as 1 e.g Gasworks/Copenhagen/Hadley Wood etc EXCEPT if there is a difference of more than say 10 metres between them

And non LUL permitted All to be on NR tracks

Mods

Please repost on the quiz section if more suited

 

[bionic]

Blackheath is quite long but the low line speed is deceptive. Penge tunnel is longer. Polhill tunnel is certainly longer still although I'm not sure that's within the London Connections map.

 

[Horizon22]

Blackheath is quite long but the low line speed is deceptive. Penge tunnel is longer. Polhill tunnel is certainly longer still although I'm not sure that's within the London Connections map.

If we're going to be technical, Polhill isn't in London; it's in Sevenoaks District.

 

[hwl]

The concept of Z7-9 is a bit nebulous in some areas...
so going on M25/ 20 miles from London terminus as a proxy:

London 2 CTRL 10120m
London 1 CTRL 7529m/7543m (d/u)
Polhill 1m851y
Oxted 1m501y
Penge 1m381y
Quarry 1m353y
Belsize 1m107y
Merstham 1m71y
Watford 1m55y
King Cross (TL via St Pancras) 0m1694y to MML - via Canal Tunnels to ECML will be longer...
Blackheath 0m1681y

 

[silverfoxcc]

hwl

Thanks. I realise the the London Connections map does extend further than the Oyster Zones but in order to help people visualise the area i used that, i didn't want to put every station on the extremity as the boundary, people would die of tedium!

And thanks for the lengths as well.

 

[PTR 444]

OP, are you counting TFL concession services with underground sections such as Crossrail and the LO East London Line?

 

[Failed Unit]

Would Moorgate - Drayton park count. It must be a few miles.

 

[silverfoxcc]

No it was LU previously, The East London tunnel is also not considered as although it was used by the earlier pre grouping railways it ws originally built as a foot tunnel/'roadway' for horse traffic. If we were to use 'Who built it,and for what purpose?' should narrow it down Also discounts PO railway

 

[Cherry_Picker]

There's a short gap between the two where the line into Marylebone crosses the WCML at South Hampstead but the combined length of Hampstead tunnel 694 yards and St John's Wood tunnel 1719 yards is pretty impressive.

 

[themiller]

Bank to Waterloo used to be part of the BR network!

 

[ijmad]

.London 2 CTRL 10120m
London 1 CTRL 7529m/7543m (d/u)

Nice - I'd never realised these were quite so long!

 

[Mikey C]

Would Moorgate - Drayton park count. It must be a few miles.

No it was LU previously,

It wasn't built as a London Underground tunnel though, but by a private company wanting to connect it to mainline GN trains. It was only taken over by the Metropolitan Railway several years after opening, it's very much a mainline tunnel

 

[pdeaves]

National network tunnels are shown on http://www.railwaycodes.org.uk/tunnels/tunnels0.shtm, listed in name order.

 

[ijmad]

It wasn't built as a London Underground tunnel though, but by a private company wanting to connect it to mainline GN trains. It was only taken over by the Metropolitan Railway several years after opening, it's very much a mainline tunnel

Is it now owned by Network Rail?

Likewise, is the East London Line? I thought at one time the stretch between Surrey Quays and Dalston Junction including Brunel's Thames Tunnel was still owned by TfL, but operated and maintained by NR under contract, although I'm unsure of its current status.

 

[pdeaves]

Is it now owned by Network Rail?

Yes, the Moorgate-Drayton Park line is NR's now.

Likewise, is the East London Line? I thought at one time the stretch between Surrey Quays and Dalston Junction including Brunel's Thames Tunnel was still owned by TfL, but operated and maintained by NR under contract, although I'm unsure of its current status.

East London Line is as you describe.

 

[Mikey C]

National network tunnels are shown on http://www.railwaycodes.org.uk/tunnels/tunnels0.shtm, listed in name order.

The GN Moorgate one is 2 miles 572 yards so presumably the longest NR one in London other than on HS1?

 

[ptreanor]

Nice - I'd never realised these were quite so long!

Deceptive with the line speed being 230 kph!