Hidden away below the streets of Liverpool’s Ropewalks district, a team of workers and engineers have been hard at work for the last six months.
Around 20 metres below Wood Street, Berry Street and Duke Street, railway engineers have been using the latest technologies to carry out repairs without causing disruption to rail passengers. The Network Rail team have been delivering a £3.5m investment which involves waterproofing and strengthening the ceiling of High Neck Tunnel between Liverpool Central and Brunswick stations.
The entrance down into the work site is only noticeable via a 130-year-old brick ventilation shaft which can be seen from Back Berry Street. Once down inside the tunnel, thick layers of soot line the walls of the shaft as a reminder of the trains that once passed through the tunnel - one of the deepest in the country in terms of the cavity from track to roof.
