UK's longest cycling tunnel opens in Bath

[Brixton Hatter]

This is wicked:

A marvel of Victorian engineering that saw its last train almost 50 years ago has been given a new lease of life as Britain’s longest cycling tunnel.​

The Combe Down Tunnel is a key section of the Two Tunnels Greenway, a four-mile stretch of disused railway between Bath and the village of Midford in Somerset. It forms part of a longer cycling loop that takes in other striking engineering accomplishments, including the already reopened but shorter Devonshire Tunnel, the Dundas Aqueduct and Tucking Mill Viaduct.​

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/britains-longest-cycling-tunnel-to-open-36832/

Looks like hundreds of people turned up to the opening today and had a massive cider piss up I really want to cycle along it. It has an arrow straight 1000m section in the middle, with curves at each end.

More info here: http://www.twotunnels.org.uk

http://www.itv.com/news/west/2013-04-05/two-tunnels-reopen-for-cyclists-and-walkers/

More photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25876334@N00/sets/72157633021506722/

Is this near you gentlegreen ?

 

[ddraig]

wow!

 

[gentlegreen]

I wasn't up to attending the hostilities, but I met some people I know on the railway path earlier and they hadn't managed to get through..
It'll take a bit of getting used to - I'm a bit claustrophobic.

 

[wiskey]

bet it's cold in the middle

 

[kittyP]

Wow that's brilliant.
I noticed in one pic that it seemed to be only about 2 bikes worth in width, would that be a bit tricky of your stuck behind someone a bit slow or is it actually wider than that?
Or I guess I suppose it is not going to be that heaving with bike traffic so you could just wit till it's safe to over take

 

[Brixton Hatter]

I wasn't up to attending the hostilities, but I met some people I know on the railway path earlier and they hadn't managed to get through..
It'll take a bit of getting used to - I'm a bit claustrophobic.

'hostilities'

does it go anywhere useful, or is it just part of a loop?

 

[Brixton Hatter]

Yeah maybe a bit a cold and claustrophobic, but I'd love to batter it through there as fast as I could on my bike. I reckon it'd be ace

Great place for a party as well

 

[gentlegreen]

'hostilities'

does it go anywhere useful, or is it just part of a loop?

You can make a nice loop out of it and return to the railway path via Saltford.
For the first part it's a bit like an alternative to the canal path - which is something of a pain most of the time.
Though in my case I will probably be doubling back to wards the canal sometimes because there's a brilliant cafe there.
The downer is a fairly depressing access via a busy main road.. then very narrow paths through parks - with potential conflicts with dog-walkers ...

 

[kittyP]

Great place for a party as well

I quite like the idea of loads of munters dancing in a long line of twos and threes

 

[bi0boy]

Yeah maybe a bit a cold and claustrophobic, but I'd love to batter it through there as fast as I could on my bike. I reckon it'd be ace

Great place for a party as well

I went to a free party in the Devonshire tunnel bit in about 1999 but someone forgot to bring a generator so we ended up in a pub instead.

Used to live right next to it

 

[gentlegreen]

 

[a_chap]

Wow! And wow! That I have to ride through.

'hostilities' aside...

 

[Poot]

This looks awesome! I'm not a cyclist but I was just thinking the other day about how cool it would be if we could use more tunnels under cities. You'd be dry, away from traffic, there's all that space down there... Great idea!

 

[ferrelhadley]

Could it be done......

 

[pissflaps]

This looks awesome! I'm not a cyclist but I was just thinking the other day about how cool it would be if we could use more tunnels under cities. You'd be dry, away from traffic, there's all that space down there... Great idea!

or stick the cars down there and leave the roads for the cyclists. that works too.

 

[ddraig]

Could it be done......

how cool woud THAT be!

 

[ferrelhadley]

Perhaps paolo would be the best person to ask

Is there not still some old Jubilee line track also unused?

 

[Brixton Hatter]

Is there not still some old Jubilee line track also unused?

Well, there's the old spur from Green Park to Charing Cross - where the Jubilee line used to terminate before it got extended to Westminster and beyond to the east. Which would potentially mean you could cycle on traffic-free routes all the way from Paddington/Hyde Park to the river.

As for the mail railway, it's a great idea but I reckon the tunnels are too small.

 

[Brixton Hatter]

I think the idea in London is actually to look at whether cycle routes could be added to ground level and overhead railway lines. Lots of engineering challenges, but potentially more realistic than tunnels.

We should really be building cycle lanes into every new and refurbished bit of road. Same could go for rail as well. Imagine long-distance cycle lanes along the High Speed 2 rail line....if/when it is ever built.

 

[Crispy]

Could it be done......

I think you'd have to ride a recumbent; the tunnels are pretty small.
The Charing Cross Jubilee branch is still used for turning trains round, and the closed station is used for filming (Skyfall, for example)

 

[ExtraRefined]

or stick the cars down there and leave the roads for the cyclists. that works too.

They sort of tried to do that with the London Ringways scheme back in the 50s.

 

[Pickman's model]

I think the idea in London is actually to look at whether cycle routes could be added to ground level and overhead railway lines. Lots of engineering challenges, but potentially more realistic than tunnels.

We should really be building cycle lanes into every new and refurbished bit of road. Same could go for rail as well. Imagine long-distance cycle lanes along the High Speed 2 rail line....if/when it is ever built.

i would be very interested in the possibility of cyclists being made to cycle along overhead railway lines although i fear that health & safety might interfere in the proposal's introduction.