Classic cars left abandoned under Liverpool following tunnel collapse
A tunnel that runs under the streets of Liverpool is filled with the rusting remains of classic cars following the tunnel’s collapse 10 years ago.
The old underground tunnel in Dingle used to be the final stop of the old Liverpool Overhead Railway before it was closed in 1956. Built in 1896, the entrance to the tunnel can still be seen carved into the rock-face underneath the terrace houses built on top of it.
It was the only below ground station on the line. Trains accessed the station via a half-mile tunnel, bored from the cliff face at Herculaneum Dock to Park Road.
READ MORE:Tiny underground house in tunnel beneath Liverpool
Following the closure of the overhead railway, the tunnel’s entrance was blocked off and eventually sold to a private owner. For a number of years, a car repair business operated up on the site of the old station.
The tunnel’s eerie, atmospheric location also attracted bands such as the Zutons and A Flock of Seagulls to film videos there. However, the tunnels have been closed to the public since a devastating partial collapse of its roof in July 2012.
Luckily nobody working at car repair business was injured and five members of staff were safely evacuated. Remembering the day, the garage’s owner told the Mirror in 2020 : “I was sitting having a digestive biscuit with a cup of tea when the roof at the other end of the tunnel came down and flattened a Ford Transit.
(Image: Mirrorpix)
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“That was the end of the garage, but I’ve never done anything with the cars still down there.” Amazingly, none of the cars have been claimed and the former garage owner believes the owners must have given them up for lost.
(Image: Liverpool City Council)
He added: “I suppose I should sell them really, I just haven’t gotten around to it.” Following the collapse, more than 100 homes nearby were evacuated as a precaution including houses built on land over the underground railway.
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Since then, a number of urban explorers have accessed the now defunct tunnels to take photographs. As recently as 2020, images of the cars still lying derelict in the tunnel were published in the Mirror.
(Image: Dan Ciminera on Flickr under the Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0) licence)
Among those photographed is a clapped-out 1970s Fiat 130 Coupe, once a fancy executive car which, in good condition, could sell for £42,000. There is a Mk 1 VW Golf, off the road since 1998, a 1979 yellow Lotus Elite last driven in 1997, and a 1987 Ford Capri 1.6 Laser.
Click the gallery below to see images of the Dingle tunnel down the years including the abandoned classic cars
Other cars include a Humber, a Morris Minor, and a 1968 Rover P5B similar to one owned by The Queen. There is also an old trailer in British racing green, probably used for bicycles.
Despite some urban explorers gaining access to the Dingle tunnels, since the collapse a decade ago they remain closed to members of the public.