The small Australian city of Helensburg is home to one of the most amazing places on the planet, an abandoned railway tunnel that glows eerily blue at night. Helensburgh Glow Worm It is an abandoned railway tunnel Helensburghin New South Wales, and is famous for the stories of ghosts surrounding it and the colony of glow worms that give it its blue glow.

Subway Helensburgh Glow Worm Originally known as the Metropolitan Tunnel, the 624-meter-long underground passage was opened at the end of the nineteenth century and is used to transport coal from the local mine to the suburbs. However, it closed two decades later and remained abandoned until the mid-1990s. That’s enough time for a colony of glowworms to claim it for itself, according to OddityCentral.

Tunnel opening

The Metropolitan Tunnel opened in Helensberg on January 1, 1889, and remained in operation until 1915, when it was officially closed. Years of exposure to coal smoke made the tunnel unsafe for train crews and passengers to cross, so the train line was repeated and the tunnel was abandoned, closed. One end of it and the whole place turned into a reservoir for mining purposes.

Over the years, debris and overgrowth engulfed the tunnel, and most people forgot it ever existed, and it was only in 1995 that the Metropolitan Colliery draining the flooded tunnel, removing the rubble in it, and turning the site into a historical landmark. However, they had no idea that their efforts would eventually lead to a unique landscape.

Tunnel lighting

worm colony

After the first restoration, the old railway tunnel became home to a colony of glow worms that has since become one of the largest in New South Wales. They covered the roof of the tunnel, emitting a distinctive blue light to attract prey such as invertebrates and mosquitoes at night, while this bioluminescence serves to A very practical purpose, however, it also creates a wonderful natural light show for humans, which is soon noticed by the locals.

tunnel at night

Tourist attraction

The tunnel eventually became known as the Tunnel Helensburgh Glow WormAnd people from all over Australia started making the trek to see the natural light show for themselves, and as photos and videos taken here began to circulate on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, the tunnel became an international tourist attraction.

Professional photo of the tunnel

But while the city of Helensburg welcomed the attention, the glow worms did not. As is often the case, people cared more about the quality of their photos and videos than the photosensitive inhabitants of the tunnel, completely ignoring warnings not to flash lights on the surface of the tunnel or light flares to make the images brighter. It didn’t take long for the number of glow worms in the tunnel to start to dwindle.

Blue light at the end of the tunnel

Fearing an early demise of their unusual appeal, the Helensburg Land Care Group temporarily restricted access to the tunnel in January of 2019 to allow the glow worms to breed in peace after years of abuse.

It is unclear whether the unique glow worm tunnel is currently open or closed to visitors, as no updated information has been found on whether or not it is open to visitors.