Monument record MDR8576 - Woodhead Railway Tunnel, Woodhead Railway, Tintwistle

The original single-track tunnel was opened in 1845 by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. 22 navvies died and 140 were injured during the construction and the appalling living and working conditions on the site high in the Pennines led to the setting up of a Parliamentary Select Committee in 1846. A second tunnel to the north was opened in 1852 to cope with increasing traffic. Another 28 men died, mainly in the cholera epidemic of 1849. The route was electrified in the early 1950s using the 1500 volt DC overhead system and a new double track tunnel was opened in 1954, the original single track tunnels becoming disused. The railway closed in 1981 but the 1852 tunnel is used to carry the CEGB 400KV power cables across the Pennines, obviating a line of pylons on high ground over the Peak District National Park. The CEGB has a 610mm gauge railway for maintenance in the tunnel. (1)