Bath's Combe Down Two Tunnels railway path project

[whole diary]

[Timmer]

This really is something thats well worth supporting and yes I am biased when I say that as I live 5 minutes walk from the old S&D^▸ (Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway) line in Bath. BUT not only will the lottery money benefit this project but many others around the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) being planned by the cycle organisation Sustrans if they win the public's vote:

http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4733.from1195246547;topicseen#msg8673

More details on the Two Tunnels Project can be found here:

http://www.twotunnels.org.uk

[vacman]

Sustrans are about the most anti-rail organisation in the world! wont get my vote!!!

[Graz]

True to an extent...  although if it wasn't for their website, I couldn't plan a rail trip to Caldicot, and ride my bike by the severn and over the old Severn Bridge back to Severn Beach, and get the train back from there which I aim to do next year! I really like the interactive maps on their site.

But I will be supporting this idea as the tunnels run very close by my house, and they would provide a wonderful oppertunity to cycle from here either to Midford and onto Radstock, or a round trip into Bath.

[Lee]

Don Foster MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) has tabled a commons motion in support (link below.)
http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=146238&command=displayContent&sourceNode=146064&contentPK=19005338&folderPk=100268&pNodeId=145795

[Lee]

If you want to support the scheme , ring 0870 2424 602.

Calls from a BT landline cost a maximum of 10p and the line closes at noon on Monday , December 10.

Online voting can be done at www.thepeoples50million.org.uk .

More in the link below.
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=180730&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232315&home=yes&more_nodeId1=163047&contentPK=19170814

[Lee]

The scheme has won the vote (link below.)
http://thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=180730&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232315&home=yes&more_nodeId1=163047&contentPK=19245365

[Lee]

However , Sustrans has been accused of vote - rigging (link below.)
http://thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=145365&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145191&contentPK=19269663&folderPk=83726&pNodeId=144922

[Lee]

More from Sustrans (link below.)
http://thisissomerset.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=147472&command=displayContent&sourceNode=242195&contentPK=19316963&folderPk=113662&pNodeId=251478

[smokey]

Sustrans, are building quite a network of Cycle routes, pity they don't maintain what they have.
The popular cycle route from Penzance along the Sea wall to Marazion is compacted ballast which works loose and is like riding a boneshaker!!
 
 In 1 accident a few years back some poor chap who came off his bike had a stitch or two put in his face, sorry I meant 200 odd stitches.

Sustrans is ANTI Rail but one good thing, WHEN the Chaps in WHITE COATS take over the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) and it's REALISED that Rail is VERY GREEN, it will be a NICE EASY job toi convert ex railway cycle routes BACK to Railways.

[Lee]

A scheme to open up two old railway tunnels for walkers and cyclists is about to take a major step forward (link below.)
http://thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=180730&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232315&home=yes&more_nodeId1=163047&contentPK=21432141

Environment charity Sustrans won a lottery grant for the Two Tunnels Project last December.

But the three-mile scheme has been on hold while the organisation awaited decisions from council chiefs over extra funding and the administration of the project work.

Now a senior councillor is being recommended to signal what is likely to be a ^400,000 contribution to the ambitious project to create a new route between Bath and Midford.

And Bath and North East Somerset Council transport cabinet member Cllr Charles Gerrish is also being urged to rubberstamp the authority's role as official commissioner of the project.

The formal appointment of Sustrans as contractor would save the Bristol charity ^315,000 in VAT^▸ (Value Added Tax) payments on the project.

[Timmer]

Update: Work finally began today on the two tunnels shared path http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Work-starts-Tunnels-scheme/article-1891743-detail/article.html

Work has finally begun on a ^1.9 million scheme to create a new four-mile cycling and walking route through old railway tunnels to the south of Bath.

Excavators have moved in at the disused Devonshire Tunnel at Bear Flat to signal the beginning of the project, which has been four years in the making.

The scheme will also open up the Combe Down Tunnel to create the Two Tunnels route between Midford and Bath.

Contractors will dig out and reopen the Devonshire Tunnel's northern end for the scheme which has been championed by the Two Tunnels Group, sustainable transport charity Sustrans, and Bath and North East Somerset Council.

Sustrans chief executive Malcolm Shepherd said: "After all the support and the years of campaigning, we finally get to see the diggers on site and this amazing route through these tunnels will become a reality that anyone can use.

Now I know that Sustrans aren't popular with some of our members but on this section of the former S&D^▸ (Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway) line there really is no chance of trains ever running again so better to have the money spent on it to make the former line and tunnels accessable to everyone. Over the last few years the council really have let the Linear Park go and it has turned into a mud bath so it will be great when its finished.

[The Grecian]

Good news. I walked through the mile long Combe Down Tunnel when it was opened on 27th June last year for a day's guided walks - it was a fascinating bit of railway history. It'd be interesting to walk through the notoriously restricted Devonshire Tunnel as well - hopefully it'll be a reality soon.

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Two disused railway tunnels near Bath have been handed over to the cycling charity Sustrans. They hope to create a four-mile long cycle and walking path between Bath and Midford. When it is finished it will be part of the Two Tunnels Scheme, offering a fast and almost flat cycle route into Bath.

Sustrans is paying ^1m - almost half the cost of the ^1.9m project - with the rest coming from Bath and North East Somerset Council and fundraising.

The project will open up the derelict Devonshire and Combe Down tunnels. They were part of the Somerset & Dorset Railway line to the south coast, but they have lain unused since the 1960s.

On Saturday hundreds of people took part in a series of escorted walks through the Combe Down tunnel.

It is hoped the new cycle route will be opened in 2011.

[eightf48544]

I have great reservations about handing over old rail lines to Sustrans as I understand that they get the right to have a cycle path even if you reinstate the railway. As these are both single line tunnels there is no space for both.

I note "offering a fast and almost flat cycle route into Bath."

!:80 down into Bath will certainly make it fast and quite hard to cycle back up hill. It even used make the 9Fs cough a bit admittedly with a 400 ton train.

 

[Timmer]

I have great reservations about handing over old rail lines to Sustrans as I understand that they get the right to have a cycle path even if you reinstate the railway. As these are both single line tunnels there is no space for both.

I do too but in the case of this section of old S&D^▸ (Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway) it's never going to see trains again and I say that with sadness. Better to get the route cleaned up and the tunnels reopened as the council have let the linear park go to an overgrown and in the winter a very muddy state.