A brief history of the viaduct and its present situation

The Waverley line between Edinburgh and Carlisle closed in 1969 but traffic as far as Longtown MOD site continued until 1973. Since then, pedestrians have used the viaduct as an unofficial footpath, although there have been occasional efforts to prevent them doing so by the British Rail Board, the body responsible for the land, which erected steel fences at each end of the viaduct to permanently restrict access on health and safety grounds. British Rail in Residuary at York are responsible for the maintenance of the viaduct.

The viaduct is a listed structure and a National Heritage footpath (Hadrian’s Wall path) passes under it’s southernmost brick ‘skewed’ arch, built on a banked curve, a fine example of Victorian engineering. Unfortunately the site is disfigured at the moment by the above mentioned fences which have been further reinforced with sheet steel such that they now remind one of that hideous structure, the ‘Berlin Wall’.

There is an on-going campaign to re-open the Waverley Viaduct. A petition to re-open the viaduct to the public was discussed at a full City Council meeting on 4 May 2010. The decision reached included a pledge that a representative of the petition's organisers should be 'involved and kept informed of progress'. This has not happened.

Since then a sub-committee of Sustainable Carlisle 'The Save the Waverley Viaduct Group' have been working with the public, the media, council officers and supportive councillors to get the viaduct re-opened to the public sooner rather than later. A packed public meeting on Wednesday 7th September 2011 at Newtown Road Methodist Church Hall received a presentation on the issue and was extremely supportive of our cause. Currently BRBin residuary, the organisation in charge of the viaduct, are attempting to have planning permission for the 'temporary barrier' now in place extended for a further three years. We oppose this application as it will only further delay the re-opening of the viaduct and give the council a further excuse for doing nothing.