The Mersey Tunnels connect Liverpool with the Wirral Peninsula, under the River Mersey. There are three tunnels: the Mersey Railway Tunnel (opened 1886), and two road tunnels, the Queensway Tunnel (opened 1934) and the Kingsway Tunnel (opened 1971). The railway tunnel and Queensway Tunnel connect Liverpool with Birkenhead, while the Kingsway Tunnel runs to Wallasey.
The road tunnels are owned and operated by Merseytravel, and have their own police force, the Mersey Tunnels Police. In 1967 it was announced that the "Mersey Tunnel Scheme" was now operational. The scheme comprised which was claimed to be the largest closed circuit television system for traffic control outside North America, and featured a bank of 22 CRT monitors.
The Birkenhead Tunnel was used to film scenes for the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. This provided Claire House children's hospice in Wirral with a £20,000 windfall, the money being paid to Merseytravel by Warner Brothers, the makers of the film, for use of the Tunnel as a location.
In November 2012 film scenes for the film Fast 6 started in Liverpool