1902: The Opening of the Greenwich Foot Tunnel in East London

August 4, 1902

The Greenwich Foot Tunnel, which crosses beneath the River Thames in East London, England, made its debut. This tunnel, connecting the district of Greenwich in the south with the Isle of Dogs to the north, was designed by civil engineer Sir Alexander Binnie (1839-1917). The Greenwich Foot Tunnel replaced a costly and too often erratic ferry service and was specifically built to allow individuals residing on the south side of the river to reach their workplaces on the docks and in the shipyards on or near the Isle of Dogs. 

“It is built for foot passengers only, and has taken rather more than three years to construct,” reported the London-based Westminster Budget newspaper around the time of the grand opening of that underwater route (known at the time as the Thames Tunnel). This newspaper also noted, “At either side of the river, under glass domes, a pair of electric lift and an easy circular stairway lead down to the tunnel itself.” The 1,215-foot (370.2-meter)-long Greenwich Tunnel remains very much in use today.

Photo Credit: Nat Bocking (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en)

For more information on the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, please check out  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_foot_tunnel