| Southern portal of Burdale Tunnel | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Line | Malton & Driffield Railway |
| Location | Yorkshire Wolds |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1853 |
| Technical | |
| Length | 1,747 yards (1,597 m) |
| Gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
Burdale Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the now abandoned Malton & Driffield Railway (MDR). It lies near the village of Burdale in North Yorkshire, England, between the former Burdale and Wharram railway stations, and was built to take the rail line through the hills of the Yorkshire Wolds.
Construction began in 1847 with the sinking of seven vertical shafts, but the tunnel, which was 1,747 yards (1,597 m) in length, was not completed until 1853. The MDR has been closed since 1958, and the tunnel portals have been bricked up since 1961. In the late Seventies, a collapse occurred just north of the tunnel's second ventilation shaft - around half-a-mile in. The mid-80s saw another fall block the tunnel towards its southern end, creating a sealed section in the middle. The East Yorkshire Bat Group (EYBG) have made recent excursions into the tunnel and have reported the structure to be in a very poor state.
In October 2008, The Yorkshire Wolds Railway Restoration Project was formed by a group of enthusiasts with the aim of restoring at least part of the M&D railway line as a heritage attraction, making it the only Heritage Railway in East Yorkshire,
This could involve restoring Burdale Tunnel to active use, although the costs would most likely be prohibitive..