A new plan to improve road and rail infrastructure between Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire promises to be far cheaper than the old one
06:01, 03 Aug 2026Updated 06:57, 03 Aug 2026
Woodhead Pass (A628) – overtaken by heavy traffic(Image: Michael Ely)
A tunnel under the Pennines connecting Manchester and Sheffield sparked excitement 10 years ago. Back in 2016, the government said they would look into the idea that could cut notoriously bad traffic and promote connectivity and growth between Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire.
The Department for Transport’s (DfT) own report highlighted the benefits of the scheme would include a major environmental and economic boost. The report added that the scheme could be a ‘catalyst to explore further improvements in east-west connectivity, including linking the international ports on Merseyside and Humberside’.
Ultimately, that idea came to nothing after it was deemed feasible but too expensive. It was estimated to cost around £10bn. The decision left those on the Tameside and Derbyshire border disappointed, until now.
Click here to get the biggest stories straight to your inbox in our Daily Newsletter
A maverick team called Future Works believes it can be done for £2bn – they’re even including a railway line to go with it.
Michael Dnes was part of the DfT team that failed to deliver the original scheme. He sees this project as unfinished business, and co-founded the Future Works team full of industry experts to execute it.
Future Works’ idea would be a 14-mile tunnel built beneath the Peak District mountains – which could cut journey times between Manchester and Sheffield by 30 minutes and take traffic away from the National Park. The dual carriageway was inspired by engineers who’ve done similar work in Norway.
The Norwegians built the world’s longest road tunnel, the 24.5km Lærdal in Norway, for around £130m.
Disused Woodhead Tunnel, pictured in 2014(Image: Tameside Advertiser)
The Woodhead railway line between the major northern cities would also be restored under the plans. The fast line was closed to the public in the 1970s and then entirely in 1981 when the coal lines dropped.
The idea would see one of the current Woodhead tunnels, which currently transport electricity lines for the national grid, for the new road and railway.
Rather than using the standard British approach of a tunnel-boring machine, Future Works has looked into the drill-and-blast method applied to tunnels in Norway. This system replaces giant machinery with more traditional mining techniques, the natural strength of the rock and small expert crews.
Although this would not work in many areas of the UK, the expert teams believe this ‘drill-and-blast’ method could work in this area due to the geology of the Pennines. This is because the tunnels built in Norway go through mountains with similar rocks.
This idea has sparked excitement amongst locals as well. Allen Battersby, originally from Stalybridge, has lived in Hollingworth for 14 years after his family desired a village lifestyle.
But the 75-year-old has to endure endless numbers of HGVs ploughing through their small village en route to the Woodhead Pass. He explained how the industrial wagons have to go through his village to the A628/Woodhead Pass or go up to the M62 and across – but many take the village route because it’s quicker.
The only reprieve Hollingworth gets is when there is heavy snowfall, a crash or the recent wildfire have blocked the route. The pensioner believes a new freight route and dual carriageway could solve the problem his village and the rest of the Tameside/Derbyshire border faces.
Allen said: “Freight on the line would be good for the economy. No one understood why it was closed in the first palace.
“We are developing in the South Yorkshire area as well so you have to develop in both directions. The tunnels are already there.“Everyone says it is never going to happen. But Manchester Piccadilly is a bottleneck, shifting industrial traffic to the new railway could help that.
“Hollingworth has been in lockdown for a month due to these wildfires and that is stopping the freight traffic coming through the village. It’s not sustainable what we’ve got here.
“I can’t see a long term future for Woodhead Pass for industrial vehicles.”
Emergency services at the scene following a crash on Woodhead Pass (Image: Luke Hopwood)
Hollingworth is currently stuck behind a huge bottleneck of traffic at Mottram Moor whilst the new A57 Link Road scheme is created. The village has to suffer the traffic impact of the bypass scheme that takes heavy traffic away from Mottram, but yields very little reward when it’s complete.
This is because HGVs and other wagons would still need to go through Hollingworth to get to the Woodhead Pass as the Snake Pass has a weight limit. Allen hopes the reactivation of the railway line could change the villager’s lives for the better.
Mr Dnes also believes this would open a plethora of opportunities for the region by connecting another railway and linking Denton station to the line in towards Sheffield. He added that because the Woodhead line was originally for coal transportation, other railway lines are already well connected – making it an ideal option for industrial links across the Pennines.
Although no plans have gotten off the ground on this project, there is already hope.
Reducing congestion around the Mottram area of Tameside has been a long-held ambition of the local MP Jonathan Reynolds. He has successfully campaigned for the A57 link road scheme that is currently under construction.
This tunnel plan, if it ever gets the go ahead, would connect to the link road scheme that is due to be completed around 2030. Mr Reynolds has welcomed the idea that could benefit motorists coming through his patch.
Route map for the Trans-Pennine Connect scheme between Manchester and Sheffield(Image: Future Works)
Jonathan Reynolds, MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, said: “People across the area and particularly in Hollingworth know all too well the frustration of traffic congestion and the impact it has on everyday life along the A628.
“If these proposals can improve connectivity across the Pennines and protect the National Park while finally delivering the bypass solution local communities have been calling for over many years, that would be really welcome.”
‘Trans-Pennine Connect’ aims to make transport between south Yorkshire and the north west better.
How could it be funded?
The previous model of going for direct government funding through the Department for Transport never got going after appetite for big road projects waned, according to Mr Dnes. So his team believes the project could be funded by either big pension funds or the local authorities and paid back over time through tolls on the tunnel.
Mr Dnes explained that tolls could actually work out cheaper than paying for fuel costs to go around an alternative route, particularly if the vehicle is larger, such as a HGV.
A spokesperson for Future Works said previously: “High demand for the route means that the project could pay for itself, without the need for Westminster funding.
“Scandinavian tunnels are often owned by local councils, who recover the costs through tolls. Equally, northern pension funds have hundreds of billions in investment capital that could be mobilised to build the project.
“Many options exist – public, private and partnership. Future Works was set up by infrastructure experts Michael Dnes and Alex Griffiths, with a combined expertise in more than £100bn of infrastructure projects. They aim to create a shovel-ready scheme, and to bring this through the planning system faster than the 10+ year processes that have become the norm in UK planning.
“Work could begin before the end of the decade, with the road and railway open in the mid-2030s.”
Now the ‘Trans-Pennine Connect’ scheme has been revealed, the next stage is to generate funding in order to actually get it started.