The original route planned for the Worcester and Hereford Railway did not include the first tunnel, but its inclusion became necessary in response to pressure for the line to serve the towns of Malvern and Ledbury.

Once this newer, wider bore was completed and brought into service on 2 August 1926, the original Colwall Tunnel was permanently closed that same day.

[2] The completed bore has a maximum depth below the surface of roughly 600 ft; airflow in the tunnel is augmented by a pair of ventilation shafts.

[3] Shortly following the end of the Second World War, the facility was deemed to be surplus to requirements, thus the narrow-gauge railway was dismantled and it fell back into disuse once more.

[3][1] In the present day, the original bore forms a part of the Malvern Hills Site of Special Scientific Interest, and has been reportedly inhabited by a colony of about 700 hibernating lesser horseshoe bats, but otherwise disused and inaccessible.

The Ledbury Area Cycle Forum has promoted a project to reopen the disused tunnel as a recreational and utility facility for cyclists and walkers.

[1] By the 1920s, it was clear that the original Colwall Tunnel possessed several negative attributes, including being very narrow, relatively low and steep (it had a gradient of 1 in 80), all of which made it increasingly difficult to accommodate the emerging specification of rolling stock.

[2] There have been petitions and studies conducted for the whole line, including the tunnel, to be double-tracked throughout; it has been observed that any reengineering or replacement programme would incur considerable expense.