Engineers and transport campaigners have urged the Department for Transport (DfT) to stop Highways England from demolishing and infilling hundreds of decommissioned railway assets that could instead be used by walkers and cyclists. The structures are part of the Historical Railways Estate managed by Highways England on behalf of the DfT and comprise 3,800 bridges, tunnels and viaducts, including 77 listed structures. The HRE Group - an alliance of engineers, active travel campaigners and greenway developers - says 135 structures face demolition or infilling by Highways England. Highways England has been allocated S13M to carry out the first phase of work in 2021/22. Some of these assets are already used by walkers, some are earmarked as walking and cycling routes and others have been flagged as eligible for the DfT's Restoring Your Railways Fund, which aims to reopen local rail lines which were closed under the 1960s Beeching cuts. In a letter to transport minister Chris Heaton-Harris seen by NCE, HRE Group claims that Highways England and its consultant Jacobs plan to demolish or infill many of these structures even though they are at a low risk of collapse. In many cases HRE Group claims that maintaining the assets would be cheaper than demolition or infilling. A Highways England spokesperson confirmed that 130 bridges and structures will be removed or infilled in the next five years. The spokesperson added that "most" of the structures are over 100 years old.
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