A proposed £2bn underground tunnel linking Sheffield and Manchester has been given a £500,000 grant towards a feasibility study, boosting plans for a direct road beneath the Pennines.
Trans-Pennine Connect, a private sector initiative campaigning for better links between the two cities, received the funding from the UK Dynamism Fund, launched in July 2026 to support individuals and organisations working on national renewal, economic growth, and technological ambition in Britain.
Plans for a 14-mile road tunnel
The group proposes building a new 14-mile (22km) road tunnel from Langsett near Stocksbridge to Tintwistle in Derbyshire, as well as restoring the historic Woodhead railway line. The group claims a Department for Transport (DfT) study found a new link would carry 35,000 to 80,000 vehicles a day, transforming transport between the two cities, with the railway making that impact bigger still.
Andrew Bennett, fund lead for the UK Dynamism Fund, said: "It is one of the most ambitious schemes anywhere in the UK and it is very easy for us to support them. We're really excited to be backing Trans-Pennine Connect with £500,000."
Costs and construction method
Currently it can take up to two hours to drive between the two northern cities, with the train from Sheffield to Manchester Victoria taking between 50 minutes and an hour and a half. The new road tunnel would be the longest of its kind anywhere in the UK and would replace the A628 Woodhead Pass, long regarded as one of the most problematic east-west routes across the Pennines.
Separate to the road tunnel, proposals include reopening the old Woodhead railway tunnel and line, which closed in 1981 when the electrified line between Manchester and Sheffield via Penistone shut. National Grid owns the three tunnels and has used them to carry power cables.
Trans-Pennine Connect is led by former DfT civil servant Michael Dnes, who until 2021 worked on a government plan to tunnel under the Pennines. That DfT scheme ground to a halt because of the expense, but the group says the tunnel could be built at a much lower cost using the "drill and blast" method instead of a tunnel boring machine.
Reactions and next steps
A previous government assessment estimated a tunnel could cost £12bn using conventional UK construction methods, including large tunnel boring machines. The group instead proposes a "drill and blast" technique commonly used in Norway, estimating that, based on Scandinavian construction costs, the tunnel could be built for less than £2bn.
Dnes said it was "astonishing" that no one had built this kind of tunnel in the north since the Victorians, and it was important to start using the "drill and blast" technology. South Yorkshire's Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said connections between Sheffield and Manchester "simply aren't good enough" and he had been clear that has to change.
He remarked: "I've said before a tunnel has to be part of that conversation. The proposals for a privately-financed road and rail tunnel are interesting and ambitious, and I want to understand more about what could be possible."
A DfT spokesperson said previously-considered proposals for a tunnel were deemed too expensive and did not deliver value for money, adding: "National Highways has identified measures to strengthen safety and resilience along the A628/A616 corridor, which will be delivered over the coming years."
