A Rail Passenger Tunnel Under Liverpool That Only Opens At Certain Times

Рет қаралды 22,262

2 ай бұрын

An "atmospheric" tunnel that's a throwback to the past has sparked memories for generations of Liverpool commuters.
Many people have admitted to not knowing the long passageway to James Street underground station even exists.
The subterranean passageway, accessed through an unassuming set of doors on the side of India buildings, is only open during peak hours on weekdays.
The passageway has been there since James Street Station was built in 1886. Together with Hamilton Square underground station in Birkenhead (which also has a similar tunnel now only used in emergencies), they are the oldest deep level underground stations in the world.
a chance explore whilst me and adam where out and about in town filming something else.
if you would like to buy me a coffee here is the link...cheers
buymeacoffee.com/g2emediag
#liverpool #liverpoolcity #railway

Пікірлер: 144

@buffplums 2 ай бұрын

When I used to use this tunnel in the 70s and 80s it was very different, the lighting was suspended strips of fluorescent light tubes and the central rail was made of round wooden strips painted black … there was always that old musty smell of the James Street station, very distinctive smell which I find very nostalgic whenever I smell it, it hasn’t changed. Thanks for doing this though, it’s nice to see the tunnel again.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Id have loved to have seen this in the 70s or 80s even it kinda looks to modern nowadays with the led lights etc but the old poster do hit home Thanks for watching mate glad you enjoyed the video

@alanjones3873 2 ай бұрын

FANTASTIC, I lived and worked in Liverpool for nearly 40 yrs upto 40 yrs ago. Used James St station and India Buildings a lot but had totally forgotten that tunnel, may have only used it a couple of times.Thanks.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching alan glad you enjoyed the video india buildings what a fantastic building inside pity the shops have now gone which were inside

@thewiseman80 2 ай бұрын

the posters were found when they re done the main james street renovation few years back and a specialist team at john moores univeristy were asked to restore them. So large scanner made them into digital copies and then stored somewhere but they were then worked on for several months to reprint them for display in the that tunnel. I was working for liverpool film office at the time with the university and i remember this work coming in. I never been down there tho, must check that out. I love your videos though guys, you guys take some made risky projects on ha!

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thats brilliant mate i did hear that some were prints from originals that were found Thanks for the info and watching mate glad you enjoy the content matey

@rooneye 2 ай бұрын

coooool. Its mad how youtube connects people like this. Its fucking great.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

@rooneye mad isnt it lol thank you so much for watching

@williamwatson228 2 ай бұрын

Top tip; walk from Water Street to James Street as it's downhill. The other way is exhausting!

@suegrimmer2896 2 ай бұрын

I walked up this subway in the 60’s to work in Martins Bank Building, happy days.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

And what a building martins bank is aswell

@bluenose1744 2 ай бұрын

Used to run down this when I was a little lad, hard to stop at the bottom. Remember vividly using on my first day at work when I was 17. Happy days. Thanks George, spot on again.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Its mad i was standing near the top and i couldnt stand up straight i kept on leaning ha ha Thanks for watching mate much appreciated

@magic1968 2 ай бұрын

You continue to surprise me with your videos George. I had no idea that tunnel existed. 👍

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Always expect the unexpected on here mate ha ha Glad you enjoyed it mate its a really amazing hidden gem this one indeed

@simonsays335 Ай бұрын

It's a new one on me too! :)

@user-ox8do8kf6z 2 ай бұрын

brilliant vid great historical watch the old plagues and posters were superb

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thank you very much for watching glad you enjoyed it This tunnel is ace isnt it

@justincase6645 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for the video guys , hidden history is so fascinating !

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching plenty more like this on the way

@steves5172 2 ай бұрын

I used to live near Hoylake station in the early 70s and like many used this tunnel to get to the Royal Liver Building. First thing in the morning this was a steep climb but worth it. In winter the icy blast down the passage was almost evil! The side wall enamel bricks are original as, I suspect, is the pavement. The grime and the old 60 watt light bulbs have gone but the atmosphere remains! Thanks for posting!

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching glad ypu enjoyed the video i can imagine the cold blast in winter Good to see lots of original features still remaining

@LittleRuth0271 2 ай бұрын

Thank you for the memories. My nanna used to take me through this tunnel when I was a child in the 70s

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

My pleasure glad you enjoyed it

@pertwee9376 2 ай бұрын

Well done. A video from you without a single swear word.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Yaaay

@whiskymacable 2 ай бұрын

Very interesting thanks for sharing.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

My pleasure thanks for watching

@ericathompson8146 2 ай бұрын

i sometimes used this in the early to mid 80s, lovely.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

I bet it looked a lot different back then

@fucktheworld1207 2 ай бұрын

Everywhere you turn in our city, hidden treasures around every corner..... and they need to sort that ceiling out.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

I have a few videos coming of mpre hidden gems mate the city is full.of them That ceiling ruined the whole tunnel ha ha Thanks for watching mate

@mimirocks1787 2 ай бұрын

Another great video!! Love our city!!❤Keep up the fantastic work!

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thank you glad you enjoyed it Lots more to come thanks for watching

@martinsallenger5526 2 ай бұрын

Hi George, l was very pleased to see this video. l forgot about the tunnel. l went here a long time ago and will definitely check it out again when in town. Thanks for sharing 👍

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Hi martin thanks for watching well worth a look this tunnel Glad you enjoyed the vid mate

@georgewhite1972 2 ай бұрын

Brilliant vid George. I didn't know this was here. I'll be definitely giving this is visit next time I'm in the city centre 👍

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thanks george its well worth a look its literally like stepping back in time Glad you enjoyed this video mate

@stephensmith4480 2 ай бұрын

What an amazing piece of local history. I have been on The Railway for 34 Years George and that is the first time I have ever seen the inside of that passageway 👍

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Its mind blowing mate well worth a look if the doors are open if you are passing Thank you so much for watching much appreciated

@stephensmith4480 2 ай бұрын

@@g2emedia1977 Always a pleasure pal 👍

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

@stephensmith4480 thank you very much

@brianaveriss7972 2 ай бұрын

Another gem George, always interesting.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching brian glad you enjoyed the video

@scouseblood275 2 ай бұрын

Belter toohey lad love the surprise element to this channel Boss video lads love the vids

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching glad you enjoted the vid i do love a good surprise ha ha

@D.B.Cooper_71 2 ай бұрын

Great video guys. I use that tunnel regularly but never noticed some of the details that your film picked out (I never thought to look up!) I love those retro railway posters and have thought of getting one or two reproduction prints framed up for my home. Keep up the great work 👍

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching glad you enjoyed the video Its like something out of an old movie when you go down them stairs Those posters are amazing arent they Thanks again mate

@davelar3868 2 ай бұрын

That's a must go to..Great vid

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Well worth it dave

@Lennymcgra 2 ай бұрын

Nice tunnel mate, reminds me of the canteen area in Kingsway Bunker in London.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Isnt a little gem this

@KevsCab 2 ай бұрын

Brilliant video mate ❤️👍

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thank you matey glad you enjoyed it

@Saint_Dan132 2 ай бұрын

that was cool from Scotland with love brothers of the north

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching much appreciated glad you enjoyed the vid

@Si7447-ec5qu 2 ай бұрын

Remember walking down there in the 80's looked different then

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Id love to have seen it in the 80s

@MrandMrsDIY 2 ай бұрын

Class this!

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Brilliant little place isnt it

@jackwhittingham354 2 ай бұрын

Brilliant lads 👍

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thanks jack glad you enjoyed the video

@ianclarke3627 2 ай бұрын

Marvelous, I had one of those reproduction posters of the overhead railway in the 80's

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

I really like the overhead railway ones mainly because i used to live nearby the terminus Thanks for watching ian much appreciated

@kylesanders3502 2 ай бұрын

I’ve got the very New Brighton one. Also one of Southport, Lord Street from the same era.

@ianclarke3627 2 ай бұрын

@@kylesanders3502 wish we still had the real thing , dockers umbrella .

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

@ianclarke3627 same here although some of it remains

@ashleyhoward8926 2 ай бұрын

Very nice to see, thanks. There's a similar tunnel beneath the river Tyne too, for ship yard workers& other commuters, also recently re-furbished. It has two "corridors", one for cycles & one for pedestrians.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thank you for watching glad you enjoyed the video I want to go see that river thames one that goes under the width of it Just a pity its miles away from me

@ashleyhoward8926 2 ай бұрын

@@g2emedia1977 The River Tyne pedestrian & cycle tunnel was accessed by the 2nd longest wooden escalators in Europe. At the bottom there are two circular bored tunnels looking like a pair of binoculars. IT;s very close to the road tunnels.

@kenlowey1 2 ай бұрын

so cool, I never even knew!!!!

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Well worth a look if your in the area

@JP_TaVeryMuch 2 ай бұрын

6:06 The first time I've ever even thought about the benefits of crossing a river by railway rather than the "Fogs, gales and tides" risk of using the ferry..!

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Mad isnt it some of the sayings on these posters lol Thanks for watching mate

@stevebramhill3811 2 ай бұрын

There's another tunnel at Hamilton Square in Birkenhead but its for emergencies only and I've never been through it . The Water street one is quite well used for people going into the station, less well the other way as it's a hell of a climb!

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Pity about that one its now closed off would be boss to see that

@bettybeebrewski2122 2 ай бұрын

Wow I never knew this was here , great video George 😀 have you covered the childe of hale ?

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thanks betty glad you enjoyed the video its a brilliant little hidden gem this one isnt it The child of hale i could possibly cover that one at some point aswell never done that before

@donyiiovanni 2 ай бұрын

I think I taken that tunnel as an exit when the giants were on and the station was chocker, it was awesome being there

@jackeaton9561 2 ай бұрын

Cool!

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching

@davidwebb8877 2 ай бұрын

Isn’t our city great.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Its brilliant isnt it

@DaveSCameron 2 ай бұрын

Second biggest underground system in Britain. #Scouse

@armour7 2 ай бұрын

@@DaveSCameronits not tho is it mate

@colinvespa4709 2 ай бұрын

Only London Underground has 49% that's actually underground, which is interesting to know. Liverpool is one of four cities wirh an underground system London Liverpool Newcastle Glasgow Merseyrail electrics has 75 route miles Newcastle metro 48 route miles It's clear Merseyrail is the second biggest.

@armour7 Ай бұрын

@@colinvespa4709 calling Merseyrail an underground system at all is a bit of a stretch considering it only has 6 underground stations. By mileage Merseyrail is far larger since it goes all the way from Southport to Chester, but the vast majority of it’s stations are surface level. I’d say the only other true underground system outside London is in Glasgow

@willp2406 2 ай бұрын

GREAT vidio George , pity you couldn,t get to the old platform at James Street, you can see it from the opposite platform though..

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Yeh i was hoping for that but inaccessable nowadays unless i ask nicely lol Thanks for watching mate glad you enjoyed it

@williamwatson228 2 ай бұрын

The old platform is used to disembark passengers if there's a problem on the loop line. I was on it a few months ago. The track leads to Central and is used to transfer rolling stock from the Northern Line to the deep level Wirral Line.

@KPP365 2 ай бұрын

Very interesting and educational video. Loved it. The question now is what other tunnels are below Liverpool ???

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thank you for watching glad you enjoyed the video There are a mass if tunnels under liverpool...watch this space i recently got talking to someone who has been researching underground liverpool for over 30 years so could be potential there for future explores

@zapre2284 2 ай бұрын

I got off at St James last year and thought I'd hit a time slip until I seen the digital display next to the ticket office ! ....literally just me on that corridor that goes on forever,.....then suddenly this 1940s ticket office appears and I'm thinking ...uh oh, where are we

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Ha ha how bloody awesome would this look without all the modern stuff going on around it Thanks for watching much appreciated

@tomfreeman650 2 ай бұрын

I lived in Vauxhall gardens this part of town eas oir playground! used to run down the tunnel ,loved that smell think it was the creosote they used on the sleepers ,in my 70s now but happily days around them times

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

@Bond2025 one of my fave smells

@johnparr5879 2 ай бұрын

The architecture visable and hidden. of....... Liverpool ..... Is always a constant................... .... . Surprise *

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Its amazing isnt it

@ste-fitzgerald 2 ай бұрын

Your videos are boss mate. Don't know if you remember around St James station there used to be an elevated walk way which smelt like a bog. I don't live in the pool anymore but is there any of that left? I found out why Moorfields has an escalator up to the ticket office..An elevated walkaway was supposed to be a predestrian access around the city centre. You could do a video on the old Exchange Street Station on Tithebarn Street. I think it's offices now.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thank you very much mate glad you enjoy the videos I never went in this station much but im now reading up on history around it etc Briliant information mate regarding moorfields Good idea that mate exchange station could deffo be worth a look ...whats left of it like but as you mention mainly offices now Thanks again

@williamwatson228 2 ай бұрын

The elevated walkways have all gone and the Moorfields station was, as you say, never built.

@ste-fitzgerald 2 ай бұрын

@@g2emedia1977 You are welcome mate. Yeah it's just a facade now Exchange Station with offices, it looks impressive. Weird in it that for Moorfields now you have to go upstairs via an escalator to go to an underground station. I think there used to be a predestrian tunnel walk way by an old stadium, was it the boxing stadium near Exchange Street. It was in one of those Liverpool movies, like "Letter to Brezhnev" In that movie the last scene is by the poey ( Post Office ) out side the Leo's on Park Road. That movie has Margi Clark in remember her. You old bits of Liverpool in it.

@andreamerciar3779 2 ай бұрын

The prints are probably reproductions of the originals, and they are really beautiful!

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

I thought that but either way they are bloody amazing Thanks for watching much appreciated

@andreamerciar3779 2 ай бұрын

@@g2emedia1977 I'm a fine art printmaker so love anything print-related (and also from Liverpool) 🌻

@buffplums 2 ай бұрын

Hamilton Square has a similar tunnel but only used for emergency exit

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Be boss to see that

@Toffeeabi81 2 ай бұрын

This reminds of some of the old disused stations on the underground that have perfectly preserved areas like modest screens in the ladies toilets. Is James street still in use or is it disused. Can you still see the station. Would it ever be able to be reoponed if needed. I'm from devon but love learning about other parts of the country

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

James st is still in use as a station the old platform where the old posters were discovered is now closed off but you can see it from the opposite platform

@Toffeeabi81 2 ай бұрын

@@g2emedia1977 ok that's what I got mixed up.with then as I saw a video of saying it was disused.

@merseydave1 2 ай бұрын

Brill !

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Thanks dave

@MrSychnant 2 ай бұрын

The only original bits are the wall tiles and floor in the tunnel and the floor and walls and ceilings in the booking hall,

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Still nice to see it still there

@markgarrity 2 ай бұрын

Unfortunately the disabled access elevator and lift have been out of action for at least 3 months and show no sign of being fixed so forget trying to access James Street Station.

@JuicyPixel 2 ай бұрын

I had to idea and the amount of time I've spend around that area working

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Mad isnt it whats around and its not that known Thanks for watching juicypixel much appreciated

@triplesod3760 2 ай бұрын

It's lovely, but is always leaking.

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

Ahh i thought the leak was only recent Thanks for watching much appreciated

@frankward8336 2 ай бұрын

India Buildings had a superb central arcade, with little upmarket shops. But I think the public is now excluded?

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

May be worth a look next time im in the area cheers

@frankward8336 2 ай бұрын

You'll need permission from HMRC or maybe via a historical society.....?

@g2emedia1977 2 ай бұрын

@@frankward8336 was in there today all shops have gone its now offices

@frankward8336 2 ай бұрын

That's tragic. And criminal. But I hope the ceiling has survived?

@Richarddraper Ай бұрын

I work in there and it's been restored with the orginal features kept. The central arcade is stunning but the shops are gone. Although it's closed to the public, I think there are tours.