Harecastle Tunnel Summer timings.

[Arthur Marshall]

Following feedback on our original operating proposal, the Trust have revised the booking arrangements for Harecastle Tunnel.

From 1 April 2026, passages will operate as follows:

Bookable passages at 8am (Southbound) and 9am (Northbound)
Open, non bookable window from 10am to 2pm
Bookable passages at 2pm (Southbound) and 3pm (Northbound)
The open window allows boats to arrive and pass through without a booking, subject to capacity and safe operation on the day. Each passage can accommodate up to eight boats.

While these times provide a clear structure, the tunnel team will remain flexible wherever possible. Staff and volunteers will use their judgement on the day to make best use of available capacity, including accommodating unbooked boats, using unused booking slots, or allowing early arrivals to join an earlier passage where it is safe to do so.

Changes to bookings should be made by 5pm on the day before your planned passage wherever possible. Where late changes cannot be made online, the team will try to accommodate them on the day, although this cannot be guaranteed

[ditchcrawler]

Its OK so long as you dont want to book North to South 

[IanM]

16 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Its OK so long as you dont want to book North to South 

 

Surely that's Southbound?  Or am I missing something?

[Alway Swilby]

1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Following feedback on our original operating proposal, the Trust have revised the booking arrangements for Harecastle Tunnel.

From 1 April 2026, passages will operate as follows:

Bookable passages at 8am (Southbound) and 9am (Northbound)
Open, non bookable window from 10am to 2pm
Bookable passages at 2pm (Southbound) and 3pm (Northbound)
The open window allows boats to arrive and pass through without a booking, subject to capacity and safe operation on the day. Each passage can accommodate up to eight boats.

While these times provide a clear structure, the tunnel team will remain flexible wherever possible. Staff and volunteers will use their judgement on the day to make best use of available capacity, including accommodating unbooked boats, using unused booking slots, or allowing early arrivals to join an earlier passage where it is safe to do so.

Changes to bookings should be made by 5pm on the day before your planned passage wherever possible. Where late changes cannot be made online, the team will try to accommodate them on the day, although this cannot be guaranteed

 

That all seems very sensible. It caters for those that want to book and for those that don't.

[Arthur Marshall]

21 minutes ago, Alway Swilby said:

 

That all seems very sensible. It caters for those that want to book and for those that don't.

I presume it means that if nobody books for the morning slots, the tunnel bods won't be there until ten, so not hanging about from some unearthly hour of the morning with nothing to do.

Could be a fair old queue by 10 at the north end though, where there's only room a a few boats, and be an early start to get there for an 8am booking if you're going up the T&M. Might have been better to have the times the other way round to give people time to get through a lock or two before getting to the tunnel. Possibly it's deliberate to put people off...

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, IanM said:

 

Surely that's Southbound?  Or am I missing something?

Yes I read it all wrong 

[Chris T]

I think this is an improvement, although still really early for the last passages, particularly in the Summer with longer days. 

[Arthur Marshall]

51 minutes ago, Chris T said:

I think this is an improvement, although still really early for the last passages, particularly in the Summer with longer days. 

I don't see how you can call adding restrictions to something an improvement. You used to just turn up at any time between 8am and 4pm and you'd go through next time the tunnel was empty.

[Chris T]

I meant an improvement to the process they had said they were going to implement. I'd also prefer to be able to turn up without booking at all, and to be able to go through later in the day. 

[Arthur Marshall]

1 hour ago, Chris T said:

I meant an improvement to the process they had said they were going to implement. I'd also prefer to be able to turn up without booking at all, and to be able to go through later in the day. 

That's true.

[IanD]

1 hour ago, Chris T said:

I meant an improvement to the process they had said they were going to implement. I'd also prefer to be able to turn up without booking at all, and to be able to go through later in the day. 

That's presumably because you're a liveaboard boater who doesn't need to get anywhere at a particular time.

 

For some other boaters being able to book and guarantee a passage at a particular time is a positive thing and helps with journey planning, for example if you have to get a hire boat back to base.

 

So I'd say a system that allows both booked and unbooked passages caters for both circumstances... 😉 

[ditchcrawler]

By the look of it if you havent booked but are there for 8am and there is room they should let you through.

[jonathanA]

We need CRT to stamp out that sort behaviour, can't have them doing sensible things for boaters... 😁

 

13 minutes ago, IanD said:

So I'd say a system that allows both booked and unbooked passages caters for both circumstances... 😉 

 

[Rob-M]

The last few years we have booked for the afternoon but generally have ended up arriving before lunch and have gone through with no more than a 30 minute wait.  The tunnel keeper has usually commented that either we were the only boat booked or there were no more than a couple of others booked in.

[Arthur Marshall]

56 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

By the look of it if you havent booked but are there for 8am and there is room they should let you through.

But if you're there by 8am, and nobody has booked, you won't get through because there won't be a tunnel bod there. There's a lot of locks before the tunnel on the T&M and no really safe mooring right by or near the entrance, so it's a hell of an early start to be there by then. Even if you park up on the Macc, it's a pretty early kick off. Would be much easier getting to the south end by 8, just a short drive from Westport. I think it's deliberate to put people off.

The only point in having a booking system is so they can close the tunnel when nobody's booked so they don't have to pay the blokes. It's got nothing to do with  improving a service to boaters, it's about saving money (which is fair enough, but let's be honest about it). I can't remember a time in thirty years when there's been too long a queue of boats to get them through in one go, though obviously I haven't been there all year... but I'd be surprised if it had ever happened.

[captain birdseye]

I usually stop below the top lock the night before passing through the tunnel, it's then no earlier set off than the run from westport. Never had a problem there and it's usually a good night in the Blue Bell

Edited March 28 by captain birdseye

[Chris T]

52 minutes ago, IanD said:

That's presumably because you're a liveaboard boater who doesn't need to get anywhere at a particular time.

 

I'm not a liveaboard and I can appreciate that having a booking can be useful in some circumstances, but I personally prefer the flexibility of the old system. We've had to work around lock opening days / times in recent years too so more of our days are having to be planned in advance rather than taking it as it comes. At least the tunnel is still open. 

 

[ditchcrawler]

27 minutes ago, captain birdseye said:

I usually stop below the top lock the night before passing through the tunnel, it's then no earlier set off than the run from westport. Never had a problem there and it's usually a good night in the Blue Bell

My stop as well

[Arthur Marshall]

I park at the bottom of the Macc so it makes no odds to me either. I just think the times are a bit odd.

[IanD]

27 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

My stop as well

And mine, going that way. Not so convenient going the other way though, through Harecastle and up the Macc like we'll be doing in May. Have moored round the back of the Blue Bell (just past the pipe bridge) a couple of times but it's a bit noisy (trains), probably go up to the Red Bull VMs and walk back.

There also looks to be some space on the south bank just before the junction (towards tunnel), anyone ever moored there?

 

[Arthur Marshall]

There is often a boat moored there. Possibly convenient for the shops. I think there's only space for one boat.

[Mike Todd]

2 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

There is often a boat moored there. Possibly convenient for the shops. I think there's only space for one boat.

There can be space back on the Macc just before the junction. 

[Alway Swilby]

On 28/03/2026 at 15:08, IanD said:

And mine, going that way. Not so convenient going the other way though, through Harecastle and up the Macc like we'll be doing in May. Have moored round the back of the Blue Bell (just past the pipe bridge) a couple of times but it's a bit noisy (trains), probably go up to the Red Bull VMs and walk back.

There also looks to be some space on the south bank just before the junction (towards tunnel), anyone ever moored there?

 

 

Yes, we've moored there overnight and also for a couple of hours to go to Tescos.

[PeterF]

Today, 1st April, per updated CRT notice I arrived at the northern portal at 11:15 without a booking, 2 northbound boats were in transit, the last one exited at 11:25, at 11:33 we entered the tunnel southbound. All perfectly easy and the same as we normally do, turn up for morning open session and go through.

Edited April 1 by PeterF
Spooling

[Rob-M]

I have just made a second booking for the tunnel as I don't expect to be able to make my original booked day as we lost a couple of days cruising due to a failed fuel pump.  The booking system has let me make two southbound bookings on different days, when I get closer I will cancel one of them and will then probably just turn up early on the day booked.

When we came North I was chatting to the volunteer and he said they only turn up early morning if there is a booking and then go home after the last booking of the day so there is still a possibility of turning up unbooked and there not being anyone there to let you through.  We were booked for 2pm but went through around 1pm and he said they would be going  home once we were out as we were the last boat booked for the day.