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Call to block electricity line tunnels plan
A top northern regeneration agency is calling on the Government to block plans to run electricity distribution lines through the Woodhead Tunnels, linking Sheffield with Manchester.
The Northern Way, set up by Yorkshire Forward and the north's two other regional development agencies, has added its voice to those of MPs on both sides of the Pennines and local people who say the tunnels must be preserved so that they can be used by trains again.
The route was closed in 1981 and National Grid currently runs 440 kV transmission cables through one of two tunnels, built in Victorian times.
A third tunnel, built in 1953, has been bought by National Grid and is now scheduled for the latest cabling project.
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But, Northern Way chairman, Neville Chamberlain, says that if the Woodhead Tunnels aren't preserved for future rail use, hopes of constructing a new, higher speed rail link from Sheffield to Manchester could be jeopardised.
"Additional, faster capacity across the Pennines will be critical to the economic future of the North," says Mr Chamberlain, who argues that it could be too costly to build new tunnels.
The Northern Way has written to Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly to highlight the importance of the tunnels.
It says that if National Grid is allowed to move the transmission cables from the Victorian tunnels to the 1953 tunnel – as it wishes to do – the option must be kept open for the cables to be moved back, to allow the rail link to be re-instated in the newer tunnel.
Northern Way transport director John Jarvis says a new higher speed rail route across the Pennines will need to be built in the next 15 to 30 years.
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Weather for Sheffield
Thursday 24 May 2012
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