'Ridiculous' - Prime Minister Andy Burnham promises action over 'crumbling' Woodhead Pass and Snake Pass
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has described the current transport links between Sheffield and Manchester as “ridiculous” and promised action in the “crumbling” Woodhead and Snake Pass.
The former Greater Manchester Mayor visited Sheffield within his first months in No10 and spoke to reporters, including The Yorkshire Post, about the issue of travel across the Pennines.
Since 2021, there have been no trains running between Sheffield and Manchester Airport, while the only road routes between are the Snake and Woodhead Pass which continue to face infrastructure issues.
Mr Burnham said the problem “needs to be addressed.”
“I came from home in the northwest this morning, so you don’t need to persuade me. We feel it as much as you do on your side,” he told reporters.
“It’s something the country has failed to address over decades.
“Manchester and Sheffield have a lot of complimentary industry, there’s lots of ties between the two cities and it’s ridiculous actually that we have a couple of winding roads and a creaky rail service.
“It’s got to be better than that.”
Before taking over as Prime Minister, Mr Burnham served as Greater Manchester Mayor where he focused on improving transport in the city by introducing the publicly-owned Bee Network that covers bus, tram and cycling services.
In Sheffield, he announced plans to allow metro mayors to retain a portion of income tax and business rates, which will allow them to borrow against future earnings and invest in major infrastructure projects.
“If you’re serious about growth, you’ve got to get the connectivity right between the big cities - certainly it’s at quite high on my list of priorities,” Mr Burnham said.
“I think we need much better rail infrastructure as part of Northern Powerhouse Rail, but I also think we need a better road solution.
“It cannot be right that the Woodhead Pass and the Snake Pass are managed as just local roads that are crumbling and not available for large parts of the year, we need to do better that.
“All of those issues are in scope. I’ll work with the local authorities concerned, but Manchester-Sheffield connectivity needs to be much better than it is.”
When Mr Burnham was mayor he worked with Oliver Coppard around the possibility of transferring the Snake Pass from Derbyshire Council to National Highways.
“We think that it is part of the national infrastructure and it shouldn’t just be the responsibility of Derbyshire County Council,” Mr Coppard explained.
“We’re pushing for improvements and for National Highways to take control of that road because it is one of the core routes between Sheffield and Manchester and is often out of use because of the nature of the road and the underlying topography and geography.”