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WoodheadWoodhead at the head of Longdendale Derbyshire is the location of the western portal of two transpennine railway tunnels, both now disused. These formerly carried a major rail link from Manchester to Sheffield. The eastern portals are at Dunford Bridge, near Penistone, Yorkshire. The earlier twin bore tunnel (Woodhead 1 & 2) was completed in the mid 19th century, with significant loss of life. It saw heavy use by steam-hauled traffic (250 trains a day each way) and had a reputation for having a poor working-environment with high maintenance needs. It was replaced by a new twin-track single-bore tunnel (Woodhead 3) in 1954. This carried an electrified route, running at 1.5kV DC, (using EM1/Class 76 engines), which was destined not to be the later network standard (25KV AC). The route was closed to passenger traffic in the 1970s when it was clear that the Hope Valley line through Edale would be required to remain open for social reasons. In the 1980s the reduction in transpennine coal traffic brought about the closure to freight, and moth-balling of the line. Meanwhile, in the 1960s, one of the earlier tunnels had a new lease of life, having been acquired and renovated by CEGB to carry the transpennine 400KV electricity link below ground, rather than over the moors of the Peak District National Park There have been periodic proposals to revive the Woodhead route, most recently in 2003 as part of a rail link to the Channel Tunnel. Much of the trackbed is currently part of the Trans Pennine Trail. External Link http://www.thewoodheadsite.org.uk www.thewoodheadsite.org.uk - has good history section
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