Tiviot Dale station and tunnel began operation in 1865 with the opening of the
Stockport, Timperley & Altrincham Junction Railway. The tunnel was 225 yards, or about 206 metres long. It is now filled in almost to the roof at both ends, and open to full height in a 75 yard long middle section, where a series of supporting girders have been fitted. There are also several alcoves along the tunnel, carved into the sandstone.
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1961, Tunnel just visible far left.
Stockport Image Archive |
Tiviot Dale station was situated immediately to the East of the tunnel. The station closed in 1967, and was demolished
in 1968; leaving just 2 of the 4 through lines running for the high
numbers of freight trains using the route. Most of the passenger services on the line were
axed by the Beeching Cuts of the previous three years. This left only one
main railway station to serve Stockport town centre - Edgeley station,
which is now known as Stockport. Tiviot Dale Station was built on the
site of an old calico printing works. It was originally called Teviot
Dale, named after a place in Scotland, but apparently everyone referred
to it as Tiviot Dale, so in 1874 the Cheshire Lines Committee changed
the station's name. Sections of the old Westbound platform bay
can be found in the overgrowth next to Lancashire Hill road bridge over the M60.
Tiviot Dale Tunnel was first closed temporarily in 1980 due to the cutting of the M63 motorway (now
the M60) exposing the line; despite record of the contractor taking
every care to protect the tunnel. The closure, along with nearby Wellington Tunnel, was made
permanent in 1982. Having done without the line for two years, and with the ongoing demise of the Woodhead line, British Rail decided not to
reopen it. One line of rails was lifted in 1983, followed by the
other in 1986, with the tunnel eventually being partially filled in at either end.
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| 2017 |
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| 2017 |
This was my third visit to the tunnel, with Moose this time, I thought it deserved a proper write up, and certainly some fact checking. There are loads of reports on this place, most of them are missing bits of information or have inconsistencies. My last time here was three
years ago, access has changed a bit since then. Glad there were no
needles there this time. It was nice to finally spend time getting some
half decent pics of the place, and it was a decent chill spot for a Friday night.
Excellent item, and good pics too..I started my railway career on this line, t Brinnington Jct..but it goes back to my childhood, as I lived in Cheadle Heath, and this railway was across the river from where I grew up..I went to Tiviot Dale many times, as a child, loved the curved(but weird) footbridge, and always looked at Tiviot Dale tunnel from the platform, wondering what it would be like to travel through it,it sort of had an air of mystery to me as a child..I did travel through it in the 70s, in the cab of a class 40 loco(same class as the one in the picture, in the cutting) hitching a ride from Brinny to Georges Rd...The loss of the Woodhead traffic, was its death knell..but oh how useful it would have been now, to go to Romiley/Marple, where road congestion is a nightmare in the rush hour..and the perfect route in to the town for Metrolink..but but only opening out the tunnel would make it useful for Metrolink..because of the overhead wiring required..
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