From spies to tourists: the redevelopment of London tunnels raises eyebrows

Angus Murray, head of an Australian asset management group, wants to redevelop the "Kingsway Exchange Tunnels", which extend for nearly 1,6 km under the Holborn district, in the heart of London.

The financier wants to organize immersive experiences there showcasing the past of the place, initially built to serve as a shelter against aerial bombardments during the Second World War, before housing the Special Operations Executives, a branch of MI6, the intelligence service. external intelligence, which would have served as inspiration for Ian Flemming for his James Bond saga.

He hopes to welcome 2 million visitors per year from 2027, who would also come to enjoy the deepest bar in the United Kingdom.

“We want the London Tunnels to become as legendary as the London Eye”, this immense Ferris wheel installed on the south bank of the Thames in the center of London, promises Angus Murray, in the prospectus announcing in early January his intention to list the company project leader on the London Stock Exchange.

During the Cold War, the government expanded the original tunnels, located some 30 meters underground, to install a secret long-distance telecommunications center.

The first transatlantic telecommunications cable was operated there, which became a key cog in the "red telephone", the direct telephone line linking the White House and the Kremlin.

Most of the equipment from this era will be preserved, according to the project leaders.

But at the end of the 1980s, with the development of more modern communications techniques, the place, measuring 8.000 m2, lost its reason for being, and was transferred to the national operator British Telecom, which put it up for sale in 2008.

For years, the tunnels did not find buyers until Angus Murray bought the place in 2022.

Promising to invest 220 million pounds (256 million euros), "the idea is to transform the tunnels into one of the most unique cultural experiences in the world", claimed last September the company The London Tunnels, in presenting his project.

Nuisance

In recent weeks, however, residents of this wealthy neighborhood, worried about this expected influx of tourists into their rather quiet streets, have made their discontent heard.

“I object to it because of the radical change of identity (that this project would have) in such a residential area,” resident James Keay protested to Camden local council and London local authorities, which must make a decision on the project.

For John Krebs, a parliamentarian in the House of Lords and who has an apartment in the area, residents are worried about the crowds and traffic that the project will cause in "a quiet and narrow street".

“The logistics of the project and its impact on the street seem very poorly thought out,” he explains to AFP.

In a dozen contributions gathered so far, residents consider the project “totally unacceptable” and “detrimental” for the neighborhood.

“He failed to convince that the area would benefit from such a tourist attraction, nor that there was a demand for such a historical experience,” writes Walter Scott, one of them, for example.

The company says it has so far raised 10 million pounds (11,7 million euros) from interested investors, and is still looking for another 30 million, which it hopes to attract via its listing on the London Stock Exchange.