The Barnet Tunnel is a railway tunnel in north London on the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...

. It has also been known as East Barnet Tunnel, Whetstone Tunnel, and Oakleigh Park Tunnel.

Location

The tunnel is in

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in north London, England. Forming part of Outer London, the borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It is the ...

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 Oakleigh Park is a loosely defined district in the north of the London Borough of Barnet. It adjoins Whetstone, and is often regarded as part of either that district or of East Barnet, although the East Coast Main Line forms a border with the l ...

(1873) and to the south,

New Southgate New Southgate is a residential suburb straddling three Outer London Boroughs: a small part of the east of Barnet, a south-west corner of Enfield and in loosest definitions, based on nearest railway stations, a small northern corner of Haringe ...

(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. It is now called Barnet Tunnel, but has also been known as East Barnet Tunnel and Whetstone Tunnel. It was known as Barnet Tunnel in the Great Northern Railway guide for 1912 but the

LNER LNER or L.N.E.R. may refer to: *London and North Eastern Railway (1923–1947), a former railway company in the United Kingdom *London North Eastern Railway (2018–), a train operating company in the United Kingdom * Liquid neutral earthing resi ...

called it Oakleigh Park Tunnel. It reverted to Barnet Tunnel under

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

.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.

Accidents

New Southgate locomotive derailment geograph-2261880-by-Ben-Brooksbank

In 8 May 1857, a partial derailment of a goods train took place as the train was entering the tunnel. There were no deaths. At 6.00 AM on 17 July 1948, locomotive No. 60508, ''Duke of Rothesay'', was hauling a passenger train from

Edinburgh Waverley Edinburgh Waverley (also known simply as Edinburgh; ) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. The station serves as the northern terminus of the East C ...

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."New Southgate Train Crash"

David Berguer David Ian Berguer (25th October 1939 - 17th September 2024) was a British local historian and author, and the chairman of the Friern Barnet and District Local History Society. His books include ''The Friern Hospital Story'' (2012), the story of t ...

, ''Friern Barnet Newsletter'', No. 29 (April 2007), pp. 1-2.

References

External links

{{coord, 51.6295, -0.1582, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Railway tunnels in London Whetstone, London East Barnet Oakleigh Park 1849 establishments in England