The Queensbury Tunnel Society (QTS), supported by cycling groups, environmental campaigners and two local councils, is seeking to reopen it as part of a greenway linking Bradford and Halifax.

The contract required the tunnel to be completed within two years, but this proved impossible due to significant water ingress forcing the abandonment of two other shafts, including No.5 which would have been the deepest at 126 m (414 ft).

[8] Railway No.3 was inspected by Major General C. S. Hutchinson on behalf of the Board of Trade on 11 October 1878, stating that "I must report that by reason of the incompleteness of the work (viz.

[10] In 1882, defects were found in the arch and sidewalls at several locations through the tunnel, caused by poor workmanship and the effects of adjacent mine workings.

[11] Subsidence and water ingress continued to have an impact during the tunnel's operational period, prompting an extensive programme of patch repairs to the arch in the 1920s and the relining of No.3 shaft in 1934.

[13] On the night of 24 March 1944, fireman Henry Kilner looked out of the cab as his train approached the tunnel, resulting in him striking his head on the brickwork.

[15] In July 1969, an early prototype of an invar wire strainmeter was installed in Queensbury Tunnel as part of research by a team of scientists from the University of Cambridge into Earth strain.

[17] In 1991, scientists from British Rail's Research Centre carried out experiments into the effectiveness of new waterproof grout which was injected through the lining at locations close to the northernmost shaft.

[21] Plans for the formal abandonment of Queensbury Tunnel were included in a report developed by Jacobs, an engineering consultancy, for BRB (Residuary) Ltd in October 2009.

[22] Jacobs submitted a second study – the Queensbury Tunnel Options Report – to Highways England's Historical Railways Estate team in February 2016.

In October 2018, Bradford Council informed Highways England that its planning application for the abandonment works would have to be accompanied by an Environmental Impact Assessment as a result of concerns that the scheme was likely to have significant effects on the environment.

[29] The additional works included the establishment of a temporary pumping system and strengthening to a 300 m (980 ft) long section of tunnel which had previously been designated as an exclusion zone.

[32] The leader of Bradford Council wrote to the Secretary of State for Transport to request an immediate halt to the infilling [33] but the work was completed on 28 October at a cost of £119,000.

[36] On the same day, Grant Shapps MP, the Secretary of State for Transport, told the Telegraph & Argus newspaper that "Queensbury Tunnel, I've taken a specific personal interest in it.

[19] A study by Sustrans, published in August 2017,[39] indicated that a network of paths linking Bradford and Keighley to Halifax via the tunnel would drive a 50% increase in the Annual Usage Estimate for commuting and leisure trips on foot or bike through these corridors, from 425,256 to 638,429.

In September 2017, it was announced that HRE had agreed to fund independent investigations by Bradford Council into the condition of the tunnel, repair options and associated costs.

[41] In a media statement, the Council said "The authority will continue to lobby HRE and the Department of Transport to delay closing the tunnel while it searches for the required funding.

"[44] In November 2019, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority submitted a bid to the Government's Transforming Cities Fund which included a request for £23 million to turn Queensbury Tunnel into a "high quality cycling route" linking Calderdale and Bradford, describing the project as a "significant opportunity".

[45] In June 2020, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps offered Bradford Council £4 million towards the tunnel's repair in return for taking on its ownership.

[46] The council subsequently published a new benefit-cost ratio for the proposed Bradford-Halifax Greenway via Queensbury Tunnel, concluding that it would return £5.60 in social and economic benefits for every £1 invested, representing very high value for money.

[47] QTS wrote to Mr Shapps and urged him to "stand by your previous statements and allocate a sufficient sum from your £2 billion active travel fund to give Bradford Council the confidence to take on the tunnel's ownership and construct a cycle route through it.