Sydney’s ghost tunnels are finally ready to reveal their secrets

“It will reconnect Sydneysiders with the past. The acoustics, the aura of the tunnels is something quite different, and the fact that it’s located right in the centre of Sydney under Hyde Park has been an attraction for movie producers over the years.”

About $1 million has been spent on safety, heritage works and visitor infrastructure in the disused tunnels ahead of the tours starting.

Killingsworth said he hoped the tours would be a springboard for other uses for the tunnels, adding that the opportunities for tourism and visitor attractions were “very significant”.

The government will shortly seek interest from tour operators to run the guided walks several times a day.

Transport Minister John Graham said the doors to the tunnels were finally about to be thrown open to ticketed tours after much talk.

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“Tours like BridgeClimb on the Harbour Bridge are now a must-do experience for Sydney locals and visitors alike. In time, we want to see tours of the St James tunnels become just as popular,” he said.

The former Coalition government had planned to open the southern tunnels to tours in late 2023.

In 2018, then-transport minister Andrew Constance announced plans to transform Sydney’s “hidden gem” into a tourist drawcard to rival similar attractions in London, Paris and New York. He described the ghost tunnels at the time as “a blank canvas” for arts, hospitality or retail.

Tour groups will be struck by the high humidity underground as they traverse the southern tunnels, which almost reach as far as beneath the Anzac Memorial at Hyde Park. Blast walls are located about every 30 metres along the tunnels, requiring visitors to walk through narrow passages.

Built as part of famed engineer John Bradfield’s plans for Sydney’s underground railway, the disused St James tunnels were constructed to “future-proof” the train network.

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The line from St James to Central Station was Sydney’s first underground railway, and the intention of the disused tunnels was for them to one day extend to the eastern suburbs and to the west.

December next year marks the 100th anniversary of the opening of St James and Museum stations, which were connected to Circular Quay in 1956 when the City Circle rail line was completed.

The disused northern tunnel beneath Macquarie Street is used to store maintenance equipment and will remain off-limits to tours. At the far end of the 500-metre tunnel from St James station is a pool known colloquially as “Lake St James” where water has collected.

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