Editing Box Tunnel (section)

===Opening===
On 30 June 1841, the tunnel was opened to traffic with little in the way of ceremony.  A special train departed London Paddington and traversed the whole of the GWR to complete the first rail journey to [[Bristol Temple Meads railway station|Temple Meads Station]] in Bristol in about four hours.<ref name = "eng time"/>

After the opening, for several months, work continued to finish the tunnel's western portal near [[Box, Wiltshire]] which Brunel had designed in a grand [[classical architecture|classical style]] – grander than the eastern portal as it is in full view of the [[A4 road (England)|London to Bath road]]. The height of the opening is far in excess of what was required (and indeed reduces once inside), but it gives the feel of a generous celebratory monument to a new form of travel. That height has been further accentuated with the 2015 lowering of the trackbed for [[overhead line|electric catenary]] to be installed.<ref name="dunn">{{cite magazine |last=Dunn |first=Tim |date=26 August 2020 |title=Great railway bores of our time! |magazine=[[Rail (magazine)|RAIL]] |location=Peterborough |publisher=[[Bauer Media Group]]|issue=912 |pages=42–49}}</ref> The eastern portal at [[Corsham]] has a more modest brick face, with [[Rustication (architecture)|rusticated]] stone dressings.<ref name=NetRailBox/>

Commentators and critics voiced concerns and disapproval about the unlined section of the tunnel; they believed that it lacked solidity and was a danger to traffic.<ref name = "eng time"/> The GWR responded to these complaints by building a brick arch underneath part of the unlined section close to the entrance which was prone to frost damage. Some areas of the tunnel remain unlined.<ref name = "eng time"/>