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One of the most exciting infrastructure projects in Britain right now. If we could build tunnels like the Norwegians we could build new motorways and railways so cheaply that they could be self-funding. The biggest prize is Manchester to Sheffield. www.thetimes.com/uk/transport...

When @roadscholar.bsky.social first told me about this I was all "yeah right, magic new tunnelling, great story" --- but it does actually seem to check out. Lots of British institutions had missed some of the importance of the North of our country having rocks more like Norway.

I have drawn in red, on top of the existing map of UK motorways from Wikipedia, the gap that this tunnel would fill. It would properly connect South Yorkshire to Greater Manchester and Liverpool in a way it currently isn't. And with that, huge economic benefit.

Currently the 44 miles from Sheffield to Manchester Airport is a drive or a train that you need to leave 2 hours for. To Manchester city centre you need to leave over 2 hours to drive. (the short and unreliable diesel trains can be a bit quicker). That's just far too slow. This fixes that.

Also written up here. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

would you advocate for a toll high enough to cancel out the induced demand?

I would not. Induced demand is a big part of the point. We want more people and more goods to travel between Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, etc... and making it easier should achieve that.

Not 'people travelling by car' we don't, surely?