Wapping or Edge Hill Tunnel in Liverpool, England, is a tunnel route from the Edge Hill junction in the east of the city to the Liverpool south end docks formerly used by trains on the Liverpool-Manchester line railway. The tunnel alignment is roughly east to west. The tunnel was designed by George Stephenson with construction between 1826 and 1829 to enable goods services to operate between Liverpool docks and all locations up to Manchester, as part of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. It was the first transport tunnel in the world to be bored under a city. The tunnel is long, running downhill from the western end of the long Cavendish cutting at Edge Hill in the east of the city, to Park Lane Goods Station near Wapping Dock in the west. The Edge Hill portal is near the former Crown Street Station goods yard. The tunnel passes beneath the Merseyrail Northern Line tunnel approximately a quarter of a mile south of Liverpool Central underground station. History Liverpool is built on an escarpment running down to the River Mersey. The original proposal for the railway out of Liverpool was a route north along the docks and riverbank. This route proved problematic with local landowners. The new route entering the city centre from the east required considerable engineering works in addition to the tunnel. The 1-in-48 gradient of the tunnel was much too steep for the power of the steam locomotives of the day. A large stationary steam engine was installed at the Cavendish cutting at Edge Hill in a short tunnel bored into the rock face on the side of the cutting, near a decorative Moorish Arch spanning the cutting. Goods wagons were hauled by rope up from the Park Lane goods station at the south end docks. The goods wagons were hitched to locomotives at the Edge Hill junction for the continuing journey to all locations from Liverpool to Manchester. The tunnel opened in 1830 and closed on 15 May 1972. The dockside portal to the tunnel is clearly visible on Kings Dock Street. This was the middle of three short exit tunnels at the western end, which met in a short open ventilation cutting between Park Lane and Upper Frederick Street. The quoted length of includes both the main tunnel and the short exit tunnel. The Edge Hill entrance is still open to the atmosphere, however not accessible