Headquarters | Liverpool |
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Area served | Liverpool, Wallasey, Birkenhead |
Parent | Merseytravel Liverpool City Region Combined Authority |
Website | merseytunnels |
Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act to amend provisions of the County of Merseyside Act 1980 relating to the levying, revision and application of tolls for use of the Mersey Tunnels and to amend that Act for other purposes. |
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Citation | 2004 c. ii |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 1 July 2004 |
Other legislation | |
Amends | County of Merseyside Act 1980 |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
The Mersey Tunnels connect the city of Liverpool with Wirral, 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 road tunnel connect central Liverpool with Birkenhead, while the Kingsway road 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. [1] The scheme comprised what was claimed to be the largest closed circuit television system for traffic control outside North America, and featured a bank of 22 CRT monitors. [1]
The Queensway Tunnel was used to film scenes for the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 from 2010. 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. [2]
In November 2012 scenes for the 2013 film Fast & Furious 6 were filmed in the Queensway Tunnel. [3]
There is an annual 10k run that passes underneath the Mersey via the Kingsway Tunnel. This is the only time during the year when one can travel through the tunnel on foot. In 2024, more than 2,000 people registered to take part in the event. [4]
Merseyside is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Welsh county of Flintshire across the Dee Estuary to the southwest, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Liverpool.
The River Mersey is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part of the boundary between the historic counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.
The Queensway Tunnel is a road tunnel under the River Mersey, in the north west of England, between Liverpool and Birkenhead. Locally, it is often referred to as the "Birkenhead Tunnel" or "old tunnel", to distinguish it from the newer Kingsway Tunnel (1971), which serves Wallasey and the M53 motorway traffic. At 2.13 miles (3.43 km) in length, it is the longest road tunnel in the UK.
The Kingsway Tunnel is a toll road tunnel under the River Mersey between Liverpool and Wallasey. The 1.5 mi (2.4 km) tunnel carries the A59. It was built because the Queensway Tunnel – which was built in the 1930s to carry vehicles between Birkenhead and Liverpool – was unable to cope with the rise in postwar traffic.
Birkenhead is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; It was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 88,818.
Merseyrail is a commuter rail network which serves Merseyside and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail serves 69 stations, 67 of which it manages, across two lines – the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. The network uses 750 V DC third rail electrified lines having 75.0 miles (120.7 km) of routes, of which 6.5 miles (10.5 km) are underground. Since January 2023, Merseyrail commenced replacing its train fleet, withdrawing the Class 507 and 508 trains and introducing 53 new Class 777 trains. The network carried 28.3 million passengers in the 2023/2024 statistical period.
The M53 is an 18.9-mile-long (30.4 km) motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside and the borough of Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It is also referred to as the Mid Wirral Motorway. It runs between the Kingsway Tunnel, at Wallasey in the north, and the A55 at Chester.
Seacombe is a district of the town of Wallasey, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively, Seacombe is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the County Borough of Wallasey, within the geographical county of Cheshire. At the 2001 Census, the population of Seacombe was 15,158,, increasing to 15,387 at the Census 2011.
Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region in North West England. It was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive. From 1 April 2014, with the creation of the Liverpool City Region, Merseytravel expanded its area of operation from the metropolitan county of Merseyside to also include the Borough of Halton.
Wallasey is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, it is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. At the 2011 Census, the population was 60,284.
Liverpool Central railway station in Liverpool, England, forms a central hub of the Merseyrail network, being on both the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. The station is located underground on two levels, below the site of a former mainline terminus. It is the busiest station in Liverpool, though considerably smaller than Lime Street station, the mainline terminus, and the busiest station to operate solely on the Merseyrail network. The station is the busiest underground station outside London serving 40,000 people daily. The station in passengers per platform is the busiest underground railway station in the United Kingdom outside of London at 3,979,547 per platform per annum and coming tenth out of all stations outside the capital, underground or overground.
Liverpool James Street is a railway station located in the centre of Liverpool, England; it is situated on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network. James Street is an underground station, with access to the platforms via lifts from the booking hall. At certain times, the platforms are accessed via a pedestrian tunnel from the India Buildings on Water Street. As of 2013/14, James Street was the fifth-busiest station on the Merseyrail network.
The Wirral Peninsula, known locally as the Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about 15 miles (24 km) long and 7 miles (11 km) wide, and is bounded by the Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpool Bay to the north.
The Liverpool City Region is a combined authority area in North West England. It has six council areas: the five metropolitan boroughs of Merseyside and the unitary authority of Halton in Cheshire. The region had a population of 1,571,045 in 2022.
The Northern line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Wirral line. The cross-city route runs from Hunts Cross in south Liverpool then branches in the north to terminate at Southport, Headbolt Lane and Ormskirk (Lancashire).
The Wirral line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line.
Birkenhead North railway station serves the town of Birkenhead, in Merseyside, England. The station is situated on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network, close to the junction of the New Brighton and West Kirby branches. Birkenhead North TMD, situated just to the west of the station, is the main traction maintenance depot for the Merseyrail fleet.
Woodside is an area of Birkenhead in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is situated opposite Liverpool Pier Head across the River Mersey.
Liverpool in North West England, is a major British city with significant road, rail, and ferry networks, in addition to an international airport and a well-known dock system. As with most other major UK cities, Liverpool's transport infrastructure is centred on its road and rail networks. Public transport services within the city are controlled and run by Merseytravel.
The history of Merseyrail dates back to the 19th century, with the original formation of the Mersey Railway, however, Merseyrail dates back to the 20th century, namely being set up by British Rail in 1969, it did not become a single network until 1977.
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