Closure and Re-opening
By 1959, the tunnel was virtually disused, and British Waterways announces plans to officially close it. A number of protest groups organised cruises through the tunnel during 1960 in hope of it being kept open, but in 1962 the tunnel was finally closed. Its very existence was threatened the following year when the railway viaduct above it was found to be structurally unsafe; this was largely a goods line since the closure of passenger stations along it the previous year, but the railway authorities planned to preserve the railway line and wanted to replace the viaduct with an embankment. The plans involved sealing the tunnel off.
However, the railway closed completely in 1968 and so the tunnel was saved. Following several years of preparation work, the tunnel was officially re-opened in 1973.
Read more about this topic: Dudley Tunnel