Tunnel closed to passengers for 60 years reopens for weekend
The last passenger train to run through the Heathfield Tunnel on 12 June 1965 was a BR Standard 4MT 80144.The tunnel remained open to freight trains until 1968 and was closed to pedestrians in 2015.The train line's name came from a tradition at the Heathfield Fair where the "first cuckoo of Spring would be released", says Spa Valley Railway. In the 1990s, the Polegate to Heathfield portion on the track was turned into the 10.4-mile Cuckoo Trail, jointly owned by Wealden District Council and East Sussex County Council.
Six steam and diesel locomotives once used on the Cuckoo Line will run from Tunbridge Wells West to Eridge via Groombridge as part of the celebrations. A spokesperson for Spa Valley Railway said: "This is as close as we're probably going to get to recreating the Cuckoo Line."
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