Southampton Tunnel (alternatively known as the Southampton Civic Centre Tunnel) is a 528-yard railway tunnel that runs close to the Civic Centre in the centre of the Hampshire city of Southampton, in England. The tunnel was constructed by the Southampton and Dorchester Railway to enable the Southampton and Dorchester Railway to pass through Southampton and join the London and Southampton Railway. Southampton West End station, subsequently relocated and presently known as Southampton Central lies to the West of the Tunnel. The experienced civil engineer Samuel Morton Peto acted as contractor for the works with the majority of the tunnel being constructed using traditional cut-and-cover techniques. Its route cut through that of the Salisbury and Southampton Canal, an incomplete project that had partially built an earlier tunnel; the presence of this earlier engineering work would negatively impact the project due to the prior disturbance of the ground. The tunnel suffered a collapse during construction, and subsequent movement of the structure delayed its opening until two months after that of the rest of the line, being finally opened to traffic for the first time during August 1847. Carrying a pair of tracks throughout its length, it has been periodically operated as a single-track only tunnel while remedial or improvement work was performed. Southampton Tunnel has been used by a variety of direct passenger services connecting the South Coast with London and the North. In addition, the tunnel has facilitated large amounts of freight movement to and from the Southampton Container Terminal and the rest of the UK. During 2009–10, it was subject to extensive re-engineering works, successfully raising both its loading gauge and maximum speed for container traffic. Construction During 1845, approval for the construction of a railway to serve Southampton, Ringwood, Poole and Dorchester was secured by an act of Parliament. The Southampton and Dorchester Railway's line had been proposed either to start from a terminus close to the Royal Pier and be connected with the existing London and Southampton Railway via a tramway, or to run to the north of the existing town via a cutting and a short tunnel. The Pier and Harbour Board objected to the seaward route despite it being favoured by the town council, and the northerley route was chosen when the line's bill finally passed through the parliamentary process. According to local historian Jake Simpkin, for the proposed railway to traverse the hill at Marlands,