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Title: Halifax - Keighley cycle route through tunnel? Post by: Trowres on January 01, 2018, 22:47:16 A campaign to use the long-disused Queensbury Tunnel for a cycle route, instead of permanently sealing it. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/01/new-push-to-make-englands-longest-cycle-tunnel-a-reality (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/01/new-push-to-make-englands-longest-cycle-tunnel-a-reality) Title: Re: Halifax - Keighley cycle route through tunnel? Post by: froome on January 02, 2018, 16:48:19 A campaign to use the long-disused Queensbury Tunnel for a cycle route, instead of permanently sealing it. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/01/new-push-to-make-englands-longest-cycle-tunnel-a-reality (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/01/new-push-to-make-englands-longest-cycle-tunnel-a-reality) Excellent. The campaign to get the Two Tunnels path open in Bath went on for at least 10 years, and having finally succeeded, has been a great success in getting people out and about walking, running and cycling. Removing both a huge hill and busy traffic does really open up scope for people to cycle journeys they would never have attempted before (in the case of the Two Tunnels these are mainly leisure journeys along with a few commuters). There was much concern about having such a long tunnel on a cycle route before it went ahead (I wasn't convinced myself that it would attract people to use it, especially if any incident had occurred just once inside it) but having the integrated music within it has been very successful, and as the article states, the tunnel itself has become a visitor attraction. Title: Re: Halifax - Keighley cycle route through tunnel? Post by: CyclingSid on January 04, 2018, 10:33:14 There is a petition, if anybody has connections with the area: tiny.cc/queensburytunnel
Title: Re: Halifax - Keighley cycle route through tunnel? Post by: CyclingSid on January 08, 2018, 10:36:04 Looks like the ball could be passed to the Local Authority
https://news.sky.com/story/campaigners-say-deal-close-to-turn-queensbury-railway-line-into-uks-longest-cycle-tunnel-11197070 Title: Re: Halifax - Keighley cycle route through tunnel? Post by: Richard Fairhurst on January 08, 2018, 10:55:07 Looks promising, but I hope the importance of getting good connecting routes either side isn't forgotten. One of the reasons the Two Tunnels in Bath work so well is that they link to the river/canal path on one side and the old railway path on the other, so you can do a 12-mile, almost entirely traffic-free circuit. As it stands the Queensbury Tunnel wouldn't really go anywhere, though there are fragments of a railway path here and there. Completing a through route to Halifax, at the very least, ought to be a priority.
Title: Re: Halifax - Keighley cycle route through tunnel? Post by: froome on January 08, 2018, 18:16:34 Looks promising, but I hope the importance of getting good connecting routes either side isn't forgotten. One of the reasons the Two Tunnels in Bath work so well is that they link to the river/canal path on one side and the old railway path on the other, so you can do a 12-mile, almost entirely traffic-free circuit. As it stands the Queensbury Tunnel wouldn't really go anywhere, though there are fragments of a railway path here and there. Completing a through route to Halifax, at the very least, ought to be a priority. Yes obviously true, but even getting a route out into the countryside is valuable. There are many people in Bath who walk or cycle through the two tunnels just to get to Midford to stop at the pub or walk around there. I don't know the Queensbury area but some of the urban Pennine valleys have some stunning landscape which would be an attraction in itself. Title: Re: Halifax - Keighley cycle route through tunnel? Post by: grahame on July 20, 2018, 21:55:54 It seems there is a difference of opinion between the campaigners and Highways England who are the tunnel's custodians - see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-44901081
I can understand the campaigners being enthusiastic and wanting to cast the most positive possible light and budget on the project to reopen the tunnel to cyclists and walkers, and in contrast Highways England wanting to be shot of the darned thing so casting it as negative as possible and looking for a final solution. I wonder where the balanced truth lies! Title: Re: Halifax - Keighley cycle route through tunnel? Post by: Red Squirrel on July 20, 2018, 23:15:20 I seem to remember that the safety argument was used by those who opposed the Two Tunnels scheme in Bath...
Title: Re: Halifax - Keighley cycle route through tunnel? Post by: grahame on July 21, 2018, 06:45:26 I seem to remember that the safety argument was used by those who opposed the Two Tunnels scheme in Bath... I was surprised and delighted that the Bath scheme was able to overcome all these concerns. A very useful precedent too - to show it can be done - although local conditions may differ. Title: Re: Halifax - Keighley cycle route through tunnel? Post by: eXPassenger on July 21, 2018, 10:05:22 If you are looking for other examples the Shute Shelve tunnel in Winscombe on the Strawberry Line is part of the cycleway.
Title: Re: Halifax - Keighley cycle route through tunnel? Post by: grahame on July 21, 2018, 15:51:07 Came across a video too.
There are many canal tunnels open for general public use in the UK too - wonderful experiences all that I have done. I do look forward to doing Standedge and the full length of Dudley should an opportunity arise. Others such as Blisworth illustrate the hard work - and in some cases massive expense that's kept them open. No two alike ... I contrast Netherton and Froghall. Title: Re: Halifax - Keighley cycle route through tunnel? Post by: grahame on October 31, 2019, 14:40:33 This story has rambled (or cycled!) on ... and although it's not in our part of the UK, I suspect it has some resonance - national bodies that come across with a faint whiff of overstepping what they're supposed to be able to do. Taking measures which, perhaps, are attractive to them as convenient opportunities to put a significant (perhaps project-killing) hurdle in the way or projects which fit into the "not invented by us" category.
From the Telegraph and Argus (https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/keighleynews/18006164.dramatic-twist-railway-tunnel-saga/) Quote In the latest twist, Bradford Council has announced planning rules may have been breached by the Department for Transport (DfT). A council engineer was sent to the tunnel to make an emergency assessment of its condition. It follows a recent development when the DfT, which owns the site, began emergency measures to stabilise an air shaft in the face of its “increasingly deteriorating condition” caused by an influx of water. The work has thrown the reopening of the tunnel into doubt, with Highways England – which looks after the structure on behalf of the DfT – admitting the safety procedures will make it “more challenging” to bring it back into use. Campaigners are pressing for the 1.4-mile-long tunnel to be reopened to form the centrepiece of a cycle path network connecting Halifax to Bradford and Keighley and have been fighting moves by Highways England to fill in the Victorian structure. They claim the emergency measures go too far and do not need to be implemented. Now council leader Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe has asked Secretary of State Grant Shapps to urgently intervene in what the council believes are unauthorised actions. Title: Re: Halifax - Keighley cycle route through tunnel? Post by: CyclingSid on November 01, 2019, 07:26:51 Maybe we should be more interested in what Highways England do (or don't do) as they took over the duties of the British Rail Residuary Body and responsibility of "former" railway property and structures.
It does seem that somebody somewhere might not be keen on allowing another Two Tunnels Way, which in some ways set the precedent. This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net |