Pennines partnership key to road and rail improvements - The Yorkshire Post says

The Yorkshire Post has long held the view that working with our partners over the Pennines is key to seeing the North of England thrive.

For all the jocular rivalry, working together is quite obviously important for our common success.

Naturally it seems that Bev Craig, Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s successor as Labour’s new Mayor of Greater Manchester, sees it that way too.

She has said that travel to Yorkshire cities such as Sheffield and Leeds “has to be made easier” and pledged to push for improvements.

Journey times across the Pennines, by road and rail, are lengthy and can be hit with delays. The only road routes between the two are the Snake Pass and Woodhead Pass, A-roads which continue to face infrastructure issues.

Mr Burnham, in fact, just days ago described transport links between Sheffield and Manchester as “ridiculous”. The Prime Minister said it cannot be right that Snake and Woodhead Pass are “managed as just local roads that are crumbling and not available for large parts of the year”.

Cancellations and delays on our railways are, of course, all too common, and since 2021, there have been no direct trains running between Sheffield and Manchester Airport.

New calls have been made, however, to revive plans for a 14-mile tunnel between Manchester and Sheffield, bringing back the Woodhead rail line, led by a team known as Future Works.

With sympathetic leaders now in post both at Downing Street and Greater Manchester, let’s hope the desire for change keeps pace and results in real solutions.