Kilsby Tunnel

Kilsby Tunnel

Air shaft in the Kilsby Tunnel, illustrated in an 1852 railway publication
Overview
Location	Northamptonshire
Coordinates	52°19′52″N 1°09′50″W / 52.331°N 1.164°W / 52.331; -1.164
Start	Kilsby
End	Crick
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Operator	West Coast Main Line
Technical
Track length	2,216 m
No. of tracks	Two

The Kilsby Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the West Coast Main Line in England, near the village of Kilsby in Northamptonshire, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Rugby. It is 2,423 yards (2,216 m) long.

The Kilsby Tunnel was designed and engineered by Robert Stephenson for the London & Birmingham Railway (L&BR). It was constructed by contractors Joseph Nowell & Sons and later by the L&BR. It took much longer to construct and exceeded its estimated cost, attributed to a roof collapse and consequential flooding. At the time of its opening in 1838, it was the longest railway tunnel ever constructed.^[1]

The tunnel had atypically large ventilation shafts, because of a lack of experience as to how much ventilation would be needed for steam locomotives to pass through.^[1] On opening in 1838, the tunnel was single track and in 1879, double-track was laid. In March 1987, Kilsby Tunnel portals and its two ventilation shafts were given listed status.