Judith Cummins, Labour MP for Bradford South and Queensbury, visited Queensbury Tunnel to demand a stop to Conservative Chris Grayling MP’s Department for Transport sealing it shut.
Instead of sealing it, Judith is supporting plans for it to be part of a wider cycle path network. It is estimated that the project could contribute an additional £37.6m to the local economy over the next thirty years. The majority of the tunnel falls under the Bradford South constituency.
Judith has been involved with the campaign from the early stages, having demanded answers from Chris Grayling MP, Secretary of State for Transport, in May 2018 about the DfT’s decision to refuse funding for further investigation.
Following this, the DfT took the decision to begin filling the tunnel, which would end any chance of it being used to boost the economy of the local area. Judith challenged the DfT’s decision and wrote to them again in February 2019 to order an immediate stop to their actions, as it would remove any possibility of a linkup between the Queensbury Tunnel Society and the Great Northern Railway Trail.
Judith Cummins MP comments: “The Queensbury Tunnel is a great historical asset, and destroying it now is just a convenient solution for the DfT, which is the typical of failing Grayling’s short termism we have come to expect from his time as Secretary of State for Transport. If The Tunnel is sealed now, any potential economic benefits from it disappear as well.
“The Queensbury Tunnel Society should be praised for finding a positive use of The Tunnel, as part of a cycling and walking trail that will be one of the best in the country, which will provide a long-term boost to the local economies of Queensbury, Bradford, and the wider West Yorkshire area.”
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