CAMPAIGNERS are saluting a milestone for a disused railway tunnel.

Exactly 150 years ago this month, work started on constructing Queensbury Tunnel.

The project was scheduled to take two years, but problems caused by huge volumes of groundwater delayed completion until 1878.

Ten men are known to have died in accidents during construction.

The railway line closed in 1956, and the condition of the tunnel deteriorated.

An abandonment scheme was proposed in 2009.

But Queensbury Tunnel Society has been battling for over a decade to save the feat of engineering, with the aim of it being revived as the centrepiece of a foot and cycle path connecting Halifax with Bradford and Keighley.

National Highways manages the structure on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Graeme Bickerdike, engineering co-ordinator with Queensbury Tunnel Society, says: "The enterprise, courage and tenacity shown by the Victorians – driving the tunnel through the hill in unimaginable conditions – contrasts starkly with the ambitions of National Highways, which sees the structure as a liability.

"Because of the local topography, the tunnel offers the only viable means of establishing a user-friendly active travel network connecting Calderdale and Bradford district. Whilst it presents many challenges, it also offers compelling social and economic benefits as we transition to more sustainable forms of transport."

He adds that the then Transport Secretary Grant Shapps intervened to halt the abandonment scheme in 2020, and that £1m was committed to a feasibility study into repurposing the structure – but the findings had never been revealed.

Norah McWilliam, leader of Queensbury Tunnel Society, says: "It’s time to end the uncertainty. We’ve worked hard as advocates for the tunnel’s potential as a strategic connector and it’s clear that many stakeholders see that value.

"In building the tunnel for us 150 years ago, engineer John Fraser, his workforce and their families left an extraordinary legacy. We should honour their efforts by bringing the tunnel back into use, rather than conspiring through inaction to inflict further decay on the engineering miracle."

National Highways says the feasibility report will be published "soon" by Bradford Council, but no date had yet been provided.

It says work has been completed to strengthen the tunnel lining and provide "safe passage" through areas where the roof had collapsed, securing the entrance and dealing with the effects of a beck diversion into the structure.

The strengthening work was designed to prevent further collapses.