Chancellor George Osborne threw his weight behind the High Speed 3 (HS3) rail project to reduce journey times between Manchester and Leeds during his 2016 Budget speech, delivered on March 16.
£60 million has been allocated to draw up detailed plans for the route of HS3 as part of a £300m funding package designed to improve transport links across the northern England. Proposals to build a trans-Pennine road tunnel linking Manchester and Sheffield and to upgrade and widen the M62 will also be developed further.
Osborne’s announcement is in line with a National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) report published the day before the Budget, which recommends that investment in transport infrastructure in the North begin immediately.
- For more on this, read RAIL 797, published today (March 30).
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BigTone - 30/03/2016 13:29
Do up the old single tunnels, put the power cables back there. That will release the 1954 tunnel for rails. That will save a bob or two.
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FrankH - 31/03/2016 00:02
If you mean Woodhead the national grid has bought the newer ones (1981) to put power lines through. They allready own the older ones which they will abandon once the power lines need renewing.
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BigTone - 31/03/2016 16:39
Yes it is Woodhead I was talking about. Actually the power lines are already in the new tunnel. I don't know when National Grid bought it but 1981 was when the line closed but British Rail left everything for 2 (?) years to give prospective buyers a chance.
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Michael Wand - 31/03/2016 13:02
Manchester Victoria would be a smarter starting point for that much-needed fast rail connector to Leeds station. Both are through stations, which means that the fast link would bring the city centres of East Lancs and West Yorks time-nearer each other by rail. See 'Northern Cities Crossrail' at http://www.infrastructure-intelligence.com/article/dec-2014/case-building-hs3-hs2
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Andrewjgwilt1989 - 07/04/2016 00:50
So HS3 could also be completed when HS2 is to be completed in 2030's.
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