Infrastructure group Future Works has revived proposals for a 14-mile road tunnel beneath the Peak District linking Manchester and Sheffield. The scheme, called Trans-Pennine Connect, is intended to ease congestion, cut journeys by an estimated 30 minutes and reduce traffic’s impact on the national park, but it remains an early-stage proposal requiring funding and planning approval.

The group says the dual-carriageway tunnel, alongside restoration of the Woodhead railway line, could cost just under £2bn, compared with earlier government estimates of £10.6bn for a shorter tunnel. It proposes using a Norwegian-style drill-and-blast construction method suited, it says, to Pennine geology; possible funding options include tolls, local authorities and pension funds, with construction suggested before 2030 and opening in the mid-2030s.