Sheffield to Manchester tunnel hopes move closer with £500,000 funding in place
Early backing found for major engineering project
Plans for a trans-Pennine tunnel between Sheffield and Manchester have come a step closer to reality.
The company behind the project, Future Works, has secured the £500,000 it needs to carry out a feasibility study for a route which would potentially run between Langsett, in South Yorkshire, and Hollingworth or Tintwhistle, near Greater Manchester.
Michael Dnes, Future Works co-founder, said: “We’re very excited to be working with UK Dynamism Fund to unlock the next stage of our project.
“This funding will let us complete the technical and environmental feasibility studies needed to get the right outcomes for people and the Peak District as we deliver better transport connections across the Pennines.”
The study will look at information including how it will affect the environment, and the finance for the scheme, which would be funded by charging a toll expected to be comparable to motorway tolls on the M6.
The company hopes to use engineering techniques commonly used in Norwegian tunnel projects, which involves using drill and blast methods, rather than tunnel boring machines. Future Works believes it would cost around £2 billion.
They want to create two road tunnels, one in each direction. They also want to re-open one of the Woodhead rail tunnels and restore the rail service that once used it.
It would involve using what is currently part of the Trans Pennine Trail, with an alternative route for the trail provided.
Speaking during a South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) Board meeting in September, South Yorkshire Mayor Coppard said Future Work’s proposal “presents a really exciting opportunity’”.
He added: “We all know the frustrations of travelling between two of the North’s biggest and best cities.
“It is imperative that we improve transport links between South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester, both for economic growth but also because of a host of other reasons.”
The Mayor said that if the project was to go ahead, it would come with a “whole host of conditions” including on wildlife and nature, which he said would be “paramount in our concerns”.
Mr Coppard said he hoped the Prime Minister, former Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, would offer his support.