Railway tunnels handed to cycle charity Sustrans
- Published
It is hoped the route will be opened in 2011
Two disused railway tunnels near Bath have been handed over to the cycling charity Sustrans.
They hope to create a four-mile long cycle and walking path between Bath and Midford.
When it is finished it will be part of the Two Tunnels Scheme, offering a fast and almost flat cycle route into Bath.
Sustrans is paying £1m - almost half the cost of the £1.9m project - with the rest coming from Bath and North East Somerset Council and fundraising.
The project will open up the derelict Devonshire and Combe Down tunnels.
They were part of the Somerset & Dorset Railway line to the south coast, but they have lain unused since the 1960s.
On Saturday hundreds of people took part in a series of escorted walks through the Combe Down tunnel.
It is hoped the new cycle route will be opened in 2011.