The current design of a cane handle spliced into a willow blade through a tapered splice was the invention in the 1880s of Charles Richardson, a pupil of Brunel and the first chief engineer of the Severn railway tunnel.
The move allowed the removal of the need for the majority of trains operating in the area, mostly in the West Country, requiring to travel through the congested Severn Tunnel.
River Severn | Channel Tunnel | tunnel | The Time Tunnel | Holland Tunnel | Fréjus Rail Tunnel | Severn Valley Railway | Severn Estuary | Severn and Wye Railway | wind tunnel | Newnham on Severn | Memorial Tunnel | Gotthard Road Tunnel | Thames and Severn Canal | Severn Tunnel | Severn Beach | Severn | Queensway Tunnel | Fréjus Road Tunnel | Dan Severn | Westbury-on-Severn | Thames Tunnel | Severn Beach Line | Oslo Tunnel | Mont Blanc Tunnel | Lincoln Tunnel | Fort Severn | Clyde Tunnel | Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel | Tunnel über der Spree |
He qualified as a civil engineer and was involved in the building of the Severn Tunnel and the Manchester Ship Canal.
New Passage opened with the line on 8 September 1863 and closed when the Severn Tunnel opened on 1 December 1886.