Tunnel Railway

Tunnel Railway
A photograph of a white horse approaching the viewer and drawing a carriage down a grey-brick-lined tunnel lit by circular ceiling lights
The main tunnel entrance of the Ramsgate Tunnels
at the official reopening in 2014
Overview
StatusClosed
OwnerRamsgate Olympia
LocaleRamsgate
Termini
Stations2
Service
TypeNarrow gauge
History
Opened31 July 1936
Closed26 September 1965
Technical
Line length1,444 yards (1,320 m)
Number of tracks1
Track gauge2 ft (610 mm)
Electrification400 V DC using trolley pole
Highest elevation83 feet (25 m)

The Tunnel Railway (also known as the Ramsgate Cliff Railway, the Ramsgate Tunnel Railway, the Ramsgate Underground Railway and the World Scenic Railway) was a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge underground railway in Ramsgate, Kent, England. Following the restructuring of railway lines in Ramsgate in 1926, the section of line between Broadstairs and Ramsgate Harbour including a tunnel to the seafront at Ramsgate was abandoned. The narrow-gauge Tunnel Railway was opened within the disused tunnel in 1936 to connect tourist attractions and shops near Ramsgate harbour with the new railway main line at Dumpton Park.[1]

Except for its two stations—one at each end of the tunnel—the line ran entirely underground. The line was built in less than three months, and on its completion in 1936 was one of the shortest independent railway lines in the country. It was open for only three years before being converted to a major air-raid shelter during World War II. After the war's end, it was not included in the 1948 nationalisation of British railways but remained in private hands.

Passenger numbers fell during the 1960s, and the line became economically unviable. Following a train crash in 1965, the owners closed the line at the end of September that year. The tunnel still exists, but no trace remains of either of the two stations.

  1. ^ "Ramsgate and its Tunnel Shelters". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 87, no. 525. London: Tothill Press Limited. March 1941. p. 118.