Monsal Trail slow-down for lighting work

All four former railway tunnels will remain open during the work, which started on Friday, April 26, but the lighting level will be reduced if a tunnel is being worked on.

Cyclists must dismount where contractors are working, and all trail users will need to divert slightly onto ballast at the side of the trail to get round the moveable platform. Wheelchair users are warned this will be very rough going and they may want to avoid the tunnels while work is going on.

Peak District National Park Authority trails manager Abi Ball said: “There will be warning signs at the tunnel entrance and there will still be lighting within the tunnels at all times. It will, however, be dimmer if that particular tunnel is being worked on, so extra care will be needed by trail users.

“The contractors will be working on one tunnel at a time, starting at Chee Tor tunnel on April 26 and working east onto Litton, Cressbrook and finally Headstone tunnel.”

The tunnels are lit during daylight hours, operated by a light sensor, but they are dark at night.

The tunnels have proved a huge attraction since the Authority re-opened them in May 2011. Cyclists and walkers can still see soot on the walls from the days of steam engines, and information panels detail the history of the old Midland Railway line that connected the Peak District to London before its closure in 1968.

The 8½-mile trail runs from Bakewell to Blackwell Junction near Buxton.