the Middle Coal Measures strata, but would not be without risk due to unknown historical data. The consequence of these routes would be that they would not directly serve Sheffield and access could only be achieved by a spur off these routes, adding to the capital cost through additional route length. Journey times to central Sheffield would be less competitive than a direct route. There would be potential for placing an intermediate station on a through route but this would be remote from the urban areas where demand is concentrated, and these station options were ruled out. Wakefield Tunnels Routes passing Wakefield offered fairly direct connections to potential stations west of the existing Leeds station limiting the impact on journey times. Therefore numerous options were explored which resulted in varying tunnel lengths from 5km to 11km. These options included entering a tunnel south of Wakefield and emerging north of Wakefield station near Alverthorpe before broadly following the Doncaster to Leeds railway as far as Middleton, at 125kph or continuing in tunnel until just north of the M62 motorway crossing east of Morley at faster speeds of 300kph. A route entering a tunnel north of Wakefield near Outwood and emerging east of Morley was investigated offering speeds of up to 300kph. The required length of tunnel for these options were found to be costly and had additional concerns of passing through ground which had known historical mining activities, increasing construction risk. East Main Line Connection A number of options were explored for connecting into the East Coast Main Line at various locations between Colton Junction and Northallerton (and hence beyond to an aspired high-speed destination of Newcastle). On joining the East Coast Main Line, Classic Compatible trains would run onwards towards Newcastle. These options included: A grade-separated connection at Colton Junction with trains running through York station towards Newcastle; a grade-separated connection south east of Tollerton forming a short York bypass by broadly following the A1237 York Ring Road; a grade-separated junction just north west of Raskelf after leaving the route following the A1 (M) and passing through the disused airfields of Tockwith and Tholthorpe Moor.
the Middle Coal Measures strata, but would not be without risk due to unknown historical data. The consequence of these routes would be that they would not directly serve Sheffield and access could only be achieved by a spur off these routes, adding to the capital cost through additional route length. Journey times to central Sheffield would be less competitive than a direct route. There would be potential for placing an intermediate station on a through route but this would be remote from the urban areas where demand is concentrated, and these station options were ruled out. Wakefield Tunnels Routes passing Wakefield offered fairly direct connections to potential stations west of the existing Leeds station limiting the impact on journey times. Therefore numerous options were explored which resulted in varying tunnel lengths from 5km to 11km. These options included entering a tunnel south of Wakefield and emerging north of Wakefield station near Alverthorpe before broadly following the Doncaster to Leeds railway as far as Middleton, at 125kph or continuing in tunnel until just north of the M62 motorway crossing east of Morley at faster speeds of 300kph. A route entering a tunnel north of Wakefield near Outwood and emerging east of Morley was investigated offering speeds of up to 300kph. The required length of tunnel for these options were found to be costly and had additional concerns of passing through ground which had known historical mining activities, increasing construction risk. East Main Line Connection A number of options were explored for connecting into the East Coast Main Line at various locations between Colton Junction and Northallerton (and hence beyond to an aspired high-speed destination of Newcastle). On joining the East Coast Main Line, Classic Compatible trains would run onwards towards Newcastle. These options included: A grade-separated connection at Colton Junction with trains running through York station towards Newcastle; a grade-separated connection south east of Tollerton forming a short York bypass by broadly following the A1237 York Ring Road; a grade-separated junction just north west of Raskelf after leaving the route following the A1 (M) and passing through the disused airfields of Tockwith and Tholthorpe Moor.
hs2-phase-two-engineering-options-report-west-midlands-to-leeds.docx