Funds boost for plan to open tunnels
PLANS to reopen two disused Valley tunnels to be used by walkers and cyclists have taken another step forward.
The Welsh Government has agreed to fund charity Sustrans to lead on a piece of work that could see the reopening of the Rhondda Tunnel, between Blaencwm and Blaengwynfi in the Afan Valley and the Abernant Tunnel, linking Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil.
The announcement was made by Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport Lee Waters in response to a debate discussing Welsh historical industrial infrastructure.
The debate noted the rich network across Wales, and that re-purposing disused railway lines and tunnels could lead to economic, regeneration and integrated transport opportunities.
Cynon Valley AM Vikki Howells has long campaigned for the reopening of the Abernant Tunnel.
Designed by Brunel, it was initially part of the Vale of Neath Railway and for 110 years its main role was to export coal from Aberdare to meet demand further afield.
Ms Howells says reopening tunnels of this kind could provide opportunities for lasting benefits in terms of integrated transport and active travel opportunities for cyclists and walkers.
It would also provide a direct and traffic-free route from Aberdare to Merthyr, which is not available at present.
The Rhondda Tunnel Society, which is campaigning to reopen the Rhondda Tunnel in its entirety said it has been asked by Mr Waters to work with Sustrans and government bodies to seek independent funding for the projects.
Stretching 3,443 yards from Blaencwm in the Rhondda Valley to Blaengwynfi in the Afan Valley, the Rhondda Tunnel was closed in 1968.
Both ends of the tunnel were filled in and landscaped over between 1979 and 1980.
Completed in 1890, the Rhondda Tunnel is a feat of Victorian engineering built to connect the coalfields of the upper Rhondda with Swansea Bay. And there it has lain buried ever since.
When reopened it would be the longest cycle and walking tunnel in Europe, and the second-longest in the world, reconnecting the communities of the Rhondda and Afan Valleys as a pedestrian and cycling route.