Construction tunnel
This tunnel was dug to take all the waste material from the new line and the station extensions to a site that was next to the National Gallery. This tunnel then runs under Trafalgar Square. Today this site is where the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery sits. The first part of the tunnel twists left and right quite sharply, this is to avoid old lift shifts and other parts of the station.
Once away from the old station the tunnel is lined with the now familiar steel plates used for lining the tube tunnels.
A small railway ran along the tunnel that was used to push through carriages with one ton of waste material. The end of the tunnel is under the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. There we could see where the tunnel had been back filled from underneath the Sainsbury Wing. We had a small presentation from our guide. Nature here too had been busy adding deposits where water had gathered and then evaporated. To the right of the display board on the wall was a much smaller tunnel whose usage was now lost in time.
Here’s a view looking back down the tunnel under Trafalgar Square.
Once back in the escalator hall we watched clips of movies that had been shot in the staion – James Bond, Paddington Bear etc. Then we went back into the public
places and the tour was over.