The brilliant pics of the most colourful tunnel in Wales

It’s undoubtedly the most colourful tunnel in Wales.

Likened to something out of the sci-fi movies Blade Runner and Tron, the railway tunnel that links Broad Street and Hood Road in Barry is a riot of colour and iridescent lights.

These brilliant pics of the tunnel were taken by Rachel Kinchin this week and posted to Facebook, where the reaction was overwhelmingly one of – wow!

Something of a hidden gem, judging by the reaction of many outside Barry who were unaware of this eye-catching structure.

Vale of Glamorgan Council helped establish the lighting installation within the tunnel back in 2020.

The scheme was commissioned as part of the Barry making Waves initiative, funded by the National lottery Heritage Fund, which aims to celebrate Barry’s sense of place.

The aim of the scheme is to integrate the newly-developed waterfront area of Barry with the High Street and Broad Street retail areas.

Despite the distance between the two areas being a short walk, the dark tunnel under the railway was perceived as a barrier, dissuading pedestrians from moving between these two areas.

Architainment Lighting Ltd, in collaboration with artist Jessica Lloyd Jones, were appointed through an open competitive process to design a new lighting scheme that would transform the tunnel into a bright, welcoming, and engaging space.

The lighting scheme has a number of programmes and settings and is customisable for special days, such as rainbow colours for Pride and Red, White and Green lighting for St David’s Day.

(All pictures by Rachel Kinchin)