Tunnel Railway

Tunnel Railway
The main tunnel entrance of the Ramsgate Tunnels at the official reopening in 2014
Overview
Status	Closed
Owner	Ramsgate Olympia
Locale	Ramsgate
Termini	Ramsgate beach Hereson Road (for Dumpton Park)
Stations	2
Service
Type	Narrow gauge
History
Opened	31 July 1936
Closed	26 September 1965
Technical
Line length	1,444 yards (1,320 m)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	2 ft (610 mm)
Electrification	400 V DC using trolley pole
Highest elevation	83 feet (25 m)

The Tunnel Railway (also known as the Ramsgate Cliff Railway, the Ramsgate Tunnel Railway, the Ramsgate Underground Railway and the World Scenic Railway) was a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge underground railway in Ramsgate, Kent, England. Following the restructuring of railway lines in Ramsgate in 1926, the section of line between Broadstairs and Ramsgate Harbour including a tunnel to the seafront at Ramsgate was abandoned. The narrow-gauge Tunnel Railway was opened within the disused tunnel in 1936 to connect tourist attractions and shops near Ramsgate harbour with the new railway main line at Dumpton Park.^[1]

Except for its two stations—one at each end of the tunnel—the line ran entirely underground. The line was built in less than three months, and on its completion in 1936 was one of the shortest independent railway lines in the country. It was open for only three years before being converted to a major air-raid shelter during World War II. After the war's end, it was not included in the 1948 nationalisation of British railways but remained in private hands.

Passenger numbers fell during the 1960s, and the line became economically unviable. Following a train crash in 1965, the owners closed the line at the end of September that year. The tunnel still exists, but no trace remains of either of the two stations.