Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the options for a transport tunnel connecting Sheffield and Manchester city regions.

In November, the Secretary of State received the interim report of the Strategic Study into a potential Trans-Pennine Tunnel. This early work has shown that a tunnel is technically feasible, and that there is a clear strategic case for linking the Manchester and Sheffield city regions.

However further work is needed into the costs and economic benefits of such a tunnel before any judgement can be reached about whether or not it will be value for money. The full report of the study, due in 2016, should address these issues.