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The film is wrong. The 1845 Atlantic Ave tunnel on NYC is not the oldest in the world. This interesting tunnel has no claim to any world first. The two Liverpool rail tunnels that were built in 1829/1830, the short 291 yard Crown Street tunnel, which serviced Crown Street station, with the first Edge Hill station at the other portal, and the 1.26 mile long Wapping Tunnel were both bored under streets and houses with the Wapping Tunnel being the first to be bored right under a Metropolis. Both were used until 1972 - 132 years.
The world's first underground station was Baker St in London. The Atlantic Ave tunnel has no stations. However Liverpool has a partially underground metro, which has the oldest part used dating to 1836 and an 1836 tunnel which urban trains run through. As London underground was a merging of a collection of separate railways, as was Liverpool's Merseyrail metro, that makes Liverpool Merseyrail the oldest urban railway in the world. The 1830 Wapping Tunnel is proposed to be reused on Merseyrail metro, which would make it the oldest underground section of any urban railway in the world. If you are into early railways Liverpool is fascinating.
List of early rail tunnels.
The 1796 Stoddart Tunnel in Chapel-en-le-Frith in Derbyshire is reputed to be the oldest rail tunnel in the world. Rail wagons were horse drawn.
A tunnel was created for the first true steam locomotive, from Penydarren to Abercynon. The Penydarren locomotive was built by Richard Trevithick. The locomotive made the historic journey from Penydarren to Abercynon in 1804. Part of this tunnel can still be seen at Pentrebach, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. This is arguably the oldest railway tunnel in the world, for self-propelled trains on on rails.
Bourne's Tunnel, Rainhill, near Liverpool, England. 0.0321 km (105 ft) long. Built in the late 1820s, the exact date is unknown. This is the first tunnel in the world that runs under a railway line. The construction of the Liverpool to Manchester Railway ran over a horse-drawn tramway from the Sutton collieries to the Liverpool to Warrington turnpike road. It was decided to bore a tunnel under the railway for the tramway. As the railway was being constructed the tunnel was made operational, opening prior to the Liverpool tunnels on the Liverpool to Manchester line. The tunnel was made redundant in 1844 when the tramway was dismantled.
Crown Street Station, Liverpool, 1829. Built by George Stephenson, a single track tunnel 291 yards long was bored from Edge Hill to Crown Street to serve the world's first passenger railway station. The station was abandoned in 1836 being too far from Liverpool city centre, with the area converted for freight use. Closed in 1972, the tunnel is disused. However it is the oldest rail tunnel running under streets in the world.
The 1.26 mile (2.03 km) 1829 Wapping Tunnel in Liverpool, England, was the first rail tunnel bored under a metropolis. Currently disused since 1972. Having two tracks, the tunnel runs from Edge Hill in the east of the city to the south end Liverpool docks being used only for freight. The tunnel is still in excellent condition and is being considered for reuse by Merseyrail rapid transit rail system, with maybe an underground station cut into the tunnel. The river portal is opposite the new Liverpool Arena being ideal for a serving station. If reused it will be the oldest used underground rail tunnel in the world and oldest part of any underground section of a metro system.
1836, Lime St Station tunnel, Liverpool, England. A two track rail tunnel, 1.13 miles (1,811 m) long was bored under a metropolis from Edge Hill in the east of the city to Lime Street. In the 1880s the tunnel was converted to a deep cutting four tracks wide. The only occurrence of a tunnel being removed. A very short section of the original tunnel still exists at Edge Hill station making this the oldest rail tunnel in the world still in use, and the oldest in use under a street, albeit only one street and one building.
Box Tunnel in England, which opened in 1841, was the longest railway tunnel in the world at the time of construction, having a length of 2.9 km (1.8 mi).
The 0.75 mile long 1842 Shildon tunnel near Darlington, England, is the oldest sizable tunnel in the world still in use under a settlement.
The Thames Tunnel, built by Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in 1843, was the first underwater tunnel and the first to use a tunnelling shield. Originally used as a foot-tunnel, it was a part of the East London Line of the London Underground until 2007, being the oldest section of the system. From 2010 the tunnel became a part of the London Overground system.
Its a very old tunnel and is interesting because when it was built in 1844, most of Brooklyn (Kings County) was still very rural and divided into small independent towns and farms. Many of the farmers still spoke Dutch as their primary language.
Another reason the tunnel is locally notable is because it "disappeared" less then 20 years after it was built and did not "reappear" until about 120 years later when a teenager found it in 1981.
John-Uk you are right and you see this a lot when people make a mistake and leave out a few words or a important detail. In this case they left out a little detail called North America! From the article: It is the oldest railway tunnel beneath a city street in North America that was fully devoted to rail.
Its a very old tunnel and is interesting because when it was built in 1844, most of Brooklyn (Kings County) was still very rural and divided into small independent towns and farms. Many of the farmers still spoke Dutch as their primary language.
Another reason the tunnel is locally notable is because it "disappeared" less then 20 years after it was built and did not "reappear" until about 120 years later when a teenager found it in 1981.
John-Uk you are right and you see this a lot when people make a mistake and leave out a few words or a important detail. In this case they left out a little detail called North America! From the article: It is the oldest railway tunnel beneath a city street in North America that was fully devoted to rail.
The film mentioned it was older than London's underground.
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