Pennines - Transport

Transport

The three main gaps in the Pennines have always afforded communications links between the areas to the east and west. These gaps are the Tyne Gap between Carlisle and Newcastle upon Tyne along which the A69 road and the Tyne Valley railway run, the Stainmore Gap between the Eden Valley in Cumbria and Teesdale in County Durham, and the Aire Gap linking Lancashire and Yorkshire via the valleys of the rivers Aire and Ribble. The Pennines are also traversed by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the M62 motorway. In many places, the Pennines remain a formidable barrier to be crossed by tunnel or roads that may be blocked by snow for several days in winter.

Rail services are operated along the Huddersfield line between Huddersfield and Victoria and Piccadilly stations in Manchester. The name of the train-operating company First TransPennine Express comes from such journeys - its trains connect the North West with the North East.

There are three trans-Pennine canals built during the Industrial Revolution which, as the name suggests, cross the range in various locations:

• The Huddersfield Narrow Canal connects the town of Huddersfield in the east with the city of Manchester in the west. When it reaches the Pennines at Marsden, it runs underneath the hills through a long tunnel to Diggle on the other side. Once a month during the summer season, it is possible to pass through the tunnel on a public narrowboat.
• The Rochdale Canal crosses the Pennines via Rochdale, connecting the market town of Sowerby Bridge with Manchester.
• The Leeds & Liverpool Canal, the longest and most northerly of the three, crosses the Pennines via Skipton connecting Leeds in the east with Liverpool in the west.