The L&Y considered shortening the route through the Calder Valley by building a cut-off between Sowerby Bridge and Littleborough; in the end, it only got as far as Rishworth, but structures were built for two tracks.
Does anyone know if the abandoned trackbed has been considered at all as part of a "new" route between Manchester and Leeds via Bradford?
Round about the beginning of the twentieth century, the LNWR "four-tracked" its route between Stalybridge and Leeds. Some of this was "conventional", simply widening the solum so that it could accommodate a four-tracked railway instead of a two-tracked one, but in other locations completely new alignments were constructed for the two extra tracks; these works comprised the Micklehurst Loop between Stalybridge and Diggle, and the Leeds New Line between Heaton Lodge and Farnley Junction.
I appreciate both routes have been blocked at various places, but does anyone know if either one or both have been considered for re-opening to provide extra capacity across the Pennines as part of the upgrade programme?
I remember travelling along the Leeds New Line in a 'Trans Pennine' DMU when they were quite new, and my recollection is that it wasn't suitably aligned for fast running; of course, I'm thinking back nearly 60 years, but does anyone know if what I believe I remember is correct?
At privatisation, I know that at least one bidder considered tilting trains for fast Manchester - Leeds services; if the section between Standedge and Huddersfield was also restored back to four tracks, could two tracks be created between Standedge and Ravensthorpe for use only by tilting trains, and how much time would be saved between Manchester and Leeds if tilting trains using dedicated tracks on the eastern side of the Pennines were to be operated? Would extension of two tracks for use only by tilting trains westwards from Standedge through the tunnel to Diggle Junction be possible at reasonable cost, and does anyone have any idea how much more time would be saved between Manchester and Leeds from such an extension?