COUNCILLORS have given their support to a campaign which aims to bring a disused railway tunnel back to life.

A full meeting of Bradford Council agreed the authority should look into adopting the old Queensbury Tunnel – which was built as part of the Halifax, Thornton & Keighley Railway.

Campaigners are pressing for the historic route to be transformed into a cycleway.

It is feared Highways England’s Historical Railways Estate, which looks after the 1.4-mile-long tunnel on behalf of the Department for Transport, could begin work to infill key parts of the structure this summer if a transfer of ownership to another statutory body isn’t agreed.

Campaign supporters, including the Queensbury Tunnel Society and Sustrans, say such work would effectively rule out any future development of a cycle network connecting Halifax with Bradford and Keighley.

Queensbury district councillor Andrew Senior, putting a motion to the council, said: “It is my view that we are duty bound to explore every avenue to work with the Department for Transport to open up what would possibly be the largest cycle tunnel in Europe.

“It will be a perfect place for walkers, runners and cyclists and a place children can learn to cycle in a safe and welcoming environment.”

Councillor Alun Griffiths said time was critical.

He added: “If it gets filled in, it is gone for ever.”

Councillor Paul Cromie said the tunnel presented “a fantastic one-off opportunity”.

He said a Sustrans report highlighted the benefits for the environment and the community and that £37.6 million could be generated from the cycling network, with the tunnel as its centrepiece.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, portfolio holder for regeneration, planning and transport, said the council was already in talks with Highways England to see what it could do.

“We are trying to find better estimates of the costs and are having discussions with Highways England to extend the time for a final decision,” he added.

“We want to make sure we have as much time as possible.

“Also, we need to look at funding. We cannot write a blank cheque for an asset that is not ours.

“There is further investigation work to do but we see there are potential benefits for the district.”

The councillors’ backing was welcomed by Norah McWilliam, leader of the Queensbury Tunnel Society.

She said: “What their support demonstrates is that this is not a party political issue.

“Everyone with their eyes open can see the sense in transforming our historic tunnel into a facility that will improve connectivity, benefit the environment and help in our battle against obesity, rather than pumping public money into a valueless abandonment scheme.

“We must look now to the council’s own structural investigations to ensure they deliver success, not excess.

“We’ve said from the outset that the only sustainable repair option for the tunnel is one that’s proportionate, pragmatic and developed by engineers with deep, specialist insight. We don’t want to waste public money on ‘over-the-top’ repairs either.”