Goals & Gains

The Queensbury Tunnel campaign has two primary objectives:

• To ensure that the tunnel's custodian, Highways England's Historical Railways Estate (HRE), is not allowed to spend £7 million of public money abandoning a strategically valuable piece of infrastructure
• To gain support and funding for the creation of a Bradford-Halifax Greenway via Queensbury Tunnel, together with further sections of the Great Northern Railway Trail through to Keighley.

© Forgotten Relics

But why bother? After all, Queensbury Tunnel's just a mucky old hole in the ground, isn't it? You could certainly choose to look at it that way, but we would rather view it as an opportunity.

Here are ten good reasons why a greenway should be opened through the tunnel:

• It would form part of a strategic link in the National Cycle Network, connecting planned routes along the Aire and Calder valleys.
• It would add another landmark structure to the Great Northern Railway Trail, making it one of the most spectacular foot/cycle paths anywhere in the country.
• It would improve connectivity between communities to the north and south of Queensbury, both for leisure and commuting.
• It would, as the England's longest reused railway tunnel, attract visitors from far afield, bringing economic benefits to both the district and wider Yorkshire region.
• It would secure the future of a remarkable engineering feat, one which deserves to be recognised and celebrated, not buried and abandoned.
• It would add considerable social and economic value to Highways England's investment in the tunnel which otherwise will involve investing in a black hole.
• It would provide another reason to get out and explore the rich industrial heritage around Bradford and Halifax.
• It would overcome a currently daunting (or insurmountable) natural barrier for those who have difficulty with steep climbs.
• It would offer children and the young-at-heart one of those unique experiences that health and safety too often stifles today.
• It would increase the district's sense of worth by increasing its profile and bringing both jobs and investment.