Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

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Mark Hewitt
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Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by Mark Hewitt »

Not sure if this has already been mentioned.

But the cycle and ped tunnel is due to close in November for 1 year in order to complete major refurbishment. Including replacing the escalators with an inclined lift.
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Lockwood
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by Lockwood »

Cycle...escalators...

:twisted:
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kit
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by kit »

I don't know the tunnel usage but it seems a very retrograde step to be replacing escalators with lifts in terms of security and throughput.
I didn't want to believe my Dad was stealing from his job as a road worker. But when I got home, all the signs were there.
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Glenn A
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by Glenn A »

The tunnel did develop a bad reputation in the nineties as a hangout for druggies.
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SarahJ
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by SarahJ »

Yes, at one time it was the thing to do, go late at night on a bike and then shoot down the travelators as fast as possible.

SJ
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A8000Bob
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by A8000Bob »

Will there be any replacement method of crossing for cyclists and pedestrians? I imagine a taxi with a bike rack for a couple of bikes would easily suffice...
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Mark Hewitt
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by Mark Hewitt »

A8000Bob wrote:Will there be any replacement method of crossing for cyclists and pedestrians? I imagine a taxi with a bike rack for a couple of bikes would easily suffice...
Apparently there will be a free van / minibus service and it'll be towing a cycle trailer behind it. - I'm assuming it will use the vehicle tunnel.
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M5Lenzar
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by M5Lenzar »

A8000Bob wrote:Will there be any replacement method of crossing for cyclists and pedestrians? I imagine a taxi with a bike rack for a couple of bikes would easily suffice...
Maybe they'll lay on some free canoes. :lol:
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Nwallace
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by Nwallace »

M5Lenzar wrote:
A8000Bob wrote:Will there be any replacement method of crossing for cyclists and pedestrians? I imagine a taxi with a bike rack for a couple of bikes would easily suffice...
Maybe they'll lay on some free canoes. :lol:
Pedalos?
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Sam
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by Sam »

Is there a date yet? I'm home at my parents (Durham) around November and would like to see the wooden escalators before they go. (Somehow I've managed never to go there in the past.)
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TWITA12
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by TWITA12 »

Hi everyone - this is to let you know that the Tyne & Wear Integrated Transport Authority is now registered on SABRE as TWITA12 to provide information on the forthcoming closure of the Tyne Pedestrian and Cyclist Tunnels for refurbishment and to answer any questions you may have.

The closure date is yet to be announced but it will certainly not be this month (October). We hope to have a definite date within the next couple of weeks.

During the 12-month closure a free, timetabled shuttle bus service will operate between 6am and 8pm, 7 days a week. It will have a trailer for bikes. The timetable will be published once the bus operator is appointed -- in a couple of weeks.

So for anyone wanting to see the tunnels in their original if faded glory, you still have at least 4 weeks to do so.
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Glenn A
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by Glenn A »

I have walked the tunnel a couple of times in the seventies and eighties, but do the old Northumberland- Durham boundary markers still exist?
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TWITA12
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by TWITA12 »

Yes Glenn, the original Northumberland and County Durham words are still there in the middle of the tunnels and will remain after refurbishment.
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Glenn A
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by Glenn A »

TWITA12 wrote:Yes Glenn, the original Northumberland and County Durham words are still there in the middle of the tunnels and will remain after refurbishment.
Thankyou.
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jlsmith
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by jlsmith »

Will this mean the world record for the longest escalator will go - or has that already been surpassed? (It's been a long time since I looked at the Guiness Book of Records...)
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TWITA12
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by TWITA12 »

The escalators are beyond economic repair but two of them will remain in situ and be opened up to public view as 'exhibitions'. Whether the world record relates to working escalators or not I'm not sure.
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Lockwood
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by Lockwood »

I thought Angel had that
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TWITA12
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by TWITA12 »

I think the record relates to wooden-tread escalators.
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Mark Hewitt
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by Mark Hewitt »

I suspect Angel is just the longest on the London Underground.

Here's what Wikipedia says:

"These escalators, manufactured by Waygood Otis in 1951, were "believed to be the longest single lift escalators in the world", at the time of installation. Presumably the first escalators in Britain designed specifically for cyclists, they are also "thought to be still" the longest escalators in the United Kingdom. At most, they may be the longest extant wooden escalators in operation in the world."
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TWITA12
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Re: Tyne cycle and pedestrian tunnel

Post by TWITA12 »

Thanks for that - that info is on the tunnels' website as well. Would be nice to have a definitive answer!
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