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potential to be repurposed for railway reopening schemes or active travel routes. No evaluation was made of their heritage or environmental value. Campaigners claimed that the proposed action was disproportionate as most of the condemned structures presented no significant risks and, in many cases, appropriate maintenance would cost a fraction of the infilling or demolition work. Among the structures was
172:, describing it as "cultural vandalism". Highways England was required to apply for retrospective planning permission for the infilling works, to which Eden District Council received 911 objections and two expressions of support. Advised by planning officers to reject the application, the council's planning committee unanimously refused retrospective planning permission on 16 June 2022. Restoration of
176:
bridge to its former condition, together with additional strengthening, could cost an estimated ÂŁ431,000, in addition to the ÂŁ124,000 spent on the initial infilling work. National
Highways agreed to abide by an enforcement notice issued by Eden District Council which requires the infill to be removed
129:
Between 2013 and 2021, the
Highways Agency/Highways England infilled 51 structures at a cost of ÂŁ8.01M and, in January 2021, it was revealed that the company had plans to demolish or infill a further 134 bridges and tunnels. This provoked opposition on the grounds that many of the structures had some
180:
The backlash against the Great
Musgrave infill scheme became national news and, in July 2021, the government intervened to pause infilling and demolition schemes at dozens of other railway bridges across the country. Many civil engineers expressed shame and embarrassment at the negative impact on
86:, and 106 other sites. The miscellaneous sites include plots of land, former roads, and monuments or memorials built by railway companies. The vast majority of the structures, 2,243, are in England; 608 are in Scotland, and 379 are in Wales; 77 of the structures are
195:
National
Highways has developed a new way to determine the nature of major works to the disused railway structures it manages; proposals will be reviewed by the company's Stakeholder Advisory Forum which includes representatives from the Department for Transport,
164:. Highways England claimed to have consulted both railways prior to the work taking place, but this was denied by the two organisations who wrote a letter of complaint to Nick Harris, the company’s Acting Chief Executive. The action provoked a public outcry.
177:
and the surrounding landscape restored to its condition prior to the infilling works. This notice became effective on 11 October 2022 and the work must be completed within 12 months. Work was under way in August 2023 to remove the infill material.
156:
The structure spanned a five-mile section of trackbed which local rail enthusiasts hoped to restore, linking the Eden Valley and
Stainmore railways to create an 11-mile tourist line between
134:
in West
Yorkshire which had already been partially infilled and which Highways England proposed to abandon despite local plans to incorporate it into the proposed Bradford-Halifax Greenway.
459:
63:. The Historical Railways Estate (formerly known as the Closed-line Estate and the Burdensome Estate) is the land and infrastructure associated with closed lines. This transferred to
27:) is a forms of over 3,100 structures—predominantly bridges, viaducts, tunnels and other works—associated with former railways in the United Kingdom. The structures are owned by the
440:
93:
Many structures that were once part of the HRE have been transferred to other organisations to be repurposed, often as part of cycling and walking routes. One such structure is
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761:
238:
294:
678:
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NH is funded only to maintain the structures in a safe condition, but has worked with other organisations to restore and repurpose some. Examples include
523:
652:
43:
486:
551:
67:, which was dissolved in 2013, and the HRE was transferred to the Highways Agency, which later became Highways England (HE) and then
756:
331:
504:
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188:, which was published in March 2022 and identified viable reuses for two thirds of the structures affected as part of the
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137:
150:
83:
28:
64:
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The issue came to a head in May/June 2021 when a bridge carrying the B6259 road over the dismantled
460:"Plan to demolish and infill hundreds of unused rail bridges and tunnels must be stopped, DfT told"
421:
168:, vice chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Industrial Heritage, raised the matter in the
146:
106:
702:
579:"Eden District Council say Highways England must apply to retain Great Musgrave Bridge infilling"
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299:
243:
52:
327:
320:
Beecroft, Gregory (1997), "How
British Rail Property Board manages the closed-line estate" in
272:
217:
131:
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79:
68:
32:
55:. When they were privatised in 1997, operational infrastructure became the responsibility of
441:"Highways England Accused of Demolishing Bridges That Could Link People-Powered Rail Trails"
395:
369:
209:
556:
205:
87:
633:
615:
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169:
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110:
239:"24 historic railway structures that face demolition or infilling by Highways England"
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679:"'Ashamed to be an engineer': NCE readers react to Highways England bridge infilling"
114:
528:
295:"Objections flood in as National Highways bids to keep controversial bridge infill"
60:
726:"National Highways' bridge infilling application dealt blow by planning officials"
598:"National Highways' bridge infilling application dealt blow by planning officials"
35:(NH). NH has been criticised for its historical infill work on several bridges.
698:"50 rail bridges and tunnels could escape National Highways demolition plans"
396:"Castlefield Viaduct: National Trust plan to create 'park in the sky' passed"
552:"Decision to fill Victorian arch with concrete branded 'cultural vandalism'"
118:
56:
524:"Highways England may have to reverse concreting of Victorian bridge arch"
399:
373:
197:
185:
75:
153:, was infilled with more than 1,600 tonnes of aggregate and concrete.
200:, Railway Paths Ltd, the Railway Heritage Trust, the HRE Group, the
184:
The DfT commissioned a review from the walking and cycling charity
505:"Cumbrian railways seek reparation in Highways England bridge row"
136:
42:
653:"Roads agency starts to undo its 'vandalism' of Victorian bridge"
634:"Great Musgrave bridge: Concrete must be removed by October 2023"
370:"New York-style urban park plan for Manchester viaduct submitted"
616:"Great Musgrave bridge: Concrete infill refused must be removed"
213:
74:
NH states that the HRE comprises 2,055 bridges, 152 tunnels, 93
422:"Freedom of Information Request – List of infilled bridges"
51:
The railways came into public ownership as a result of the
47:
487:"Highways England accused of rail heritage vandalism"
348:"Historical Railways Estate - working with partners"
16:Structures associated with former British railways
322:Burman, Peter; Stratton, Michael, eds. (1997).
8:
82:, 643 partially dismantled structures, 181
762:Rail infrastructure in the United Kingdom
141:Great Musgrave Bridge prior to infilling
229:
426:National Highways (FoI disclosure log)
7:
263:
261:
583:News & Star/The Cumberland News
651:Weaver, Matthew (14 August 2023).
97:, now owned by Railway Paths Ltd.
14:
522:Weaver, Matthew (21 July 2021).
439:Reid, Carlton (5 January 2021).
324:Conserving the Railway Heritage
181:their professional reputation.
550:Sabin, Lamiat (22 July 2021).
458:Horgan, Rob (6 January 2021).
1:
696:Horgan, Rob (15 March 2022).
293:Horgan, Rob (22 April 2022).
724:Horgan, Rob (10 June 2022).
677:Horgan, Rob (15 July 2021).
596:Horgan, Rob (10 June 2022).
269:"Historical Railways Estate"
202:Heritage Railway Association
237:Horgan, Rob (10 May 2021).
778:
125:Demolitions and infillings
21:Historical Railways Estate
109:in Manchester, which the
757:Department for Transport
151:Musgrave railway station
29:Department for Transport
326:. Abingdon: Routledge.
65:BRB (Residuary) Limited
190:National Cycle Network
142:
113:is converting into an
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192:or in local schemes.
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46:
31:(DfT) and managed by
376:. 30 September 2021
350:. National Highways
212:(also representing
147:Eden Valley Railway
107:Castlefield Viaduct
730:New Civil Engineer
703:New Civil Engineer
683:New Civil Engineer
602:New Civil Engineer
465:New Civil Engineer
402:. 24 November 2021
300:New Civil Engineer
244:New Civil Engineer
143:
121:in New York City.
117:, inspired by the
53:Transport Act 1947
49:
640:. 6 October 2022.
491:Construction News
273:National Highways
218:Historic Scotland
132:Queensbury Tunnel
95:Bennerley Viaduct
69:National Highways
33:National Highways
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170:House of Lords
162:Kirkby Stephen
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101:Restorations
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61:Network Rail
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24:
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220:and ADEPT.
149:, close to
751:Categories
224:References
84:earthworks
39:Background
662:16 August
119:High Line
80:aqueducts
59:and then
57:Railtrack
709:20 April
657:Guardian
638:BBC News
620:BBC News
563:27 April
535:27 April
471:20 April
406:17 April
400:BBC News
380:17 April
374:BBC News
354:13 April
306:27 April
198:Sustrans
186:Sustrans
76:viaducts
735:17 June
509:Rail UK
278:2 April
250:2 April
158:Appleby
445:Forbes
330:
71:(NH).
737:2022
711:2022
664:2023
565:2022
537:2022
473:2022
408:2022
382:2022
356:2022
328:ISBN
308:2022
280:2022
252:2022
214:Cadw
160:and
78:and
19:The
216:),
25:HRE
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23:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
