It was used to transport exhibits including heavy machinery and a locomotive and tender built in Ballarat.

During the Boer War, troops from the parade ground were taken to ships at Port Adelaide and during the 1919 Spanish flu pandemic, it was used to carry around 600 people from Melbourne to the quarantine camp on the Jubilee Oval.

[4] In 1973, the tunnel was rediscovered when construction on the Adelaide Festival Centre was taking place.

The Adelaide city council investigated whether it would be worth reopening the tunnel as a pedestrian subway to complement the new festival centre.

Subsequently the costing was found to be grossly underestimated at $90,000-$140,000 so the project was abandoned and the excavations refilled.