Government response to petition on the PM's website :
No current proposals for tunnels on the Woodhead route stop them from being re-opened for future rail use, if they are needed.
The Rail White Paper, published in July 2007, identified the need for more passenger capacity across the Pennines. It concluded that this could best be met by longer trains and faster journey times on the Manchester to Leeds via Huddersfield route. The White Paper did not identify any need for substantial extra trans-Pennine capacity for freight.
The Minister of State for Transport, Rosie Winterton, proposes to meet National Grid in the next few weeks to confirm that the Government would wish to explore further the option of continuing the inspection and maintenance regime for the Victorian tunnels once National Grid have vacated them.
Following that meeting, she would also like to meet key stakeholders to gain the transport industry and northern economic perspectives on the issue of TransPennine transport and how that will tie in with the process of developing a longer term strategy. This will be conducted as part of the process outlined in the document - Towards a Sustainable Transport System (TaSTS).
