[7] In addition, there are four permanent vent/construction shafts still in use today at Town End, Hopewell Farm, America Moor and Howley Park.

This was made possible by using steam engines to lower men down the working shafts to the level of the tunnel and raising stone and clay to the surface.

[8] To construct the tunnel, 11 powerful steam engines, 15 double horse gins, 2,000 men and 330 horses were used, and the work caused a huge change to the then known landscape, particularly in the area where Morley Low station is situated, where a huge cutting had to be excavated and the valley stream had to be culverted.

Large sums in compensation money had to be paid out to his estate as mining underneath the tunnel would have led to subsidence issues.

[13] However, coal mining did create a myriad of problems as the tunnel was built over the workings of two local collieries; Morley Main and Howley Park.

[16] Today, the tunnel is used by the local services run by Northern and the long distance services between Leeds and Manchester Piccadilly by TransPennine Express as part of the London North Eastern (LNE) route (Network Rail designation), between Leeds and Huddersfield.