Barnet Tunnel

The Barnet Tunnel is a railway tunnel in north London on the East Coast Main Line. It has also been known as East Barnet Tunnel, Whetstone Tunnel, and Oakleigh Park Tunnel.

Oakleigh Park Rail Cutting and Barnet Tunnel
Barnet Tunnel map.

Location

The tunnel is in London Borough of Barnet in north London. It passes under Russell Lane which joins Oakleigh Road North to Brunswick Park Road. The station to the north of the tunnel is Oakleigh Park (1873) and to the south, New Southgate (1850). Immediately to the north of the tunnel is Oakleigh Park Rail Cutting between the tunnel entrance and Oakleigh Park station.

History

The tunnel was built as part of the Great Northern Railway from 23 April 1849. It is 605 yards in length.[1][2][3]

It is now called Barnet Tunnel,[1] but has also been known as East Barnet Tunnel and Whetstone Tunnel.[4] It was known as Barnet Tunnel in the Great Northern Railway guide for 1912 but the LNER called it Oakleigh Park Tunnel. It reverted to Barnet Tunnel under British Rail.[5]

Accidents
A2/1 No. 60508 Duke of Rothesay lying on its side

In 8 May 1857, a partial derailment of a goods train took place as the train was entering the tunnel. No lives were lost.[6]

At 6.00 AM on 17 July 1948, locomotive No. 60508, Duke of Rothesay, was hauling a passenger train from Edinburgh Waverley when it began to derail inside the tunnel due to a combination of faulty track and excessive speed. The whole train was subsequently derailed on points at New Southgate. The driver was only slightly hurt but the fireman was killed after he escaped from the engine but was hit by the following carriages. Ten passengers were injured, none seriously.[7][8]

References
  1. Network Rail (3 September 2016). London North Eastern Route Route Sectional Appendix LN101 006. Module LN2. p. 16.
  2. Railway tunnel lengths. Railway Codes. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  3. Wrottesley, John. (1979) The Great Northern Railway: Volume I origins and development. London: Batsford. p. 52. ISBN 9780713415902
  4. Oakleigh Road (Finchley N20). London Borough of Barnet. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  5. Dawes, Martin C. (2003) The end of the line: The story of the railway service to the Great Northern London Cemetery. Barnet: Barnet and District Local History Society. p. 90. ISBN 0951334255
  6. Accounts and Papers: Railways; Highways; Turnpike Trusts. Session 30 April - 28 August 1857. Vol. XXXVII. London: House of Commons. 1857. p. 29.
  7. Hoole, Ken (1982). Trains in trouble: Vol. 3. Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 39. ISBN 0-906899-05-2.
  8. "New Southgate Train Crash", David Berguer, Friern Barnet Newsletter, No. 29 (April 2007), pp. 1-2.

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