Kaunas tunnel in XIX century

Kaunas tunnel in 2018

Kaunas railway tunnel  is one of the two railway tunnels existing in Lithuania and the only railway tunnel operating in the Baltic states. 
1.3km (0.8 miles) long Kaunas railway tunnel that was built between 1859 and 1861 near Kaunas  railway station is worth attention of  tourists. Its operation  had begun before operation of London Underground . A restored steam engine stands at the west entrance of Kaunas railway tunnel. ​

The construction of the tunnel began  on 15 May 1859 and  was supervised  by French engineer G. F. Perrot.   French company Ernest Goüin et Cie was hired to perform  construction works. The tunnel was dug from both sides in a 30-meter-high hill, under the residential area of Šančiai in Kaunas. Some bricks were manufactured locally, but some bricks were being bought and delivered from the Netherlands and Germany. The exploitation of the railway bridge over the Nemunas River was started on 4 February 1862.
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​Despite the fact that simple measuring instruments, such as  a ruler, ropes, level, had been used during the construction, the tunnel was constructed  in a very precise manner. The workers who worked during the construction of the tunnel were dominated by French people and Germans. The height under the tunnel is approx. 30m, the length of the tunnel is 1,285km, the height inside the tunnel is 6,6m.

The tunnel in Kaunas  was bombed by the retreating armed forces of Germany on 30 July 1944. It was rebuilt by the Soviet army  1,5 months later in the same year.
Kaunas railway tunnel was entered  in the Register of Immovable Cultural Heritage  of the Republic of Lithuania. 

Photo bellow:  View from a pedestrian bridge in Panemune and from the railway station side