The second mainland tunnel attempt

The Northern Channel Passenger Link proposes a different alignment using electric passenger trains.

Hotel owners, railway interests and land speculators promote the project as the end of the island’s commercial isolation.

Approach works and an experimental heading proceed. Compressed-air leaks, unstable ground beneath part of the channel, rising costs and disputed mainland landing rights delay construction.

A fatal pressure accident leads to a stoppage.

Creditors refuse another restructuring in 1913 and the contractors withdraw. The headings never meet.

Private poker rooms host some of the financing discussions. Investors who lose publicly while demanding wage reductions attract particular hostility.

Investigations uncover competing valuations and concealed liabilities. The island keeps improved electrical works, access roads and another collection of abandoned excavations.