Hastings Line - Tunnels

Tunnels

There are nine tunnels between Tonbridge and Ore. In order from north to south they are:

There have always been problems connected with the Tonbridge -St Leonards section of the Charing Cross line. It was built in a hurry by the SER in an attempt to compete with the passenger traffic to Hastings of the LBSCR; and as a result corners were cut in its construction. Most of the section runs through the hilly Weald, necessitating seven tunnels. The contractors on the line, in an attempt to keep up with a strict timetable, saved time by putting in fewer layers of bricks than were required through the tunnels: in 1862 the Wadhurst tunnel collapsed, revealing the truth. Instead of reboring the tunnels, the extra layers were laid on the inner surfaces of all seven tunnels, narrowing the bore, and thereby ensuring that specially-constructed rolling stock was required from then on; electrification of the line was also delayed for many years. Special narrow bodied diesel multiple units were introduced from 1957 to replace steam traction. Electrification was finally completed in 1986, using standard rolling stock, and the expedient of singling the track through the narrow tunnels. A preview service of electric trains ran on 27 April 1986 and the full timetable service commenced on 12 May 1986

The Wadhurst and Mountfield tunnels were those causing the major problems before the changes.