Walking & cycling
A continuous walking and cycling route along the corridor — station to station, city to city.
The Line · route & system
Line
A proposed underground Metro along the selected canal corridor, with a continuous Green Spine above and new neighbourhoods around its stations.
Proposed stops16All-stop, access-led
Between station references87.2 km54.2 miles, straight-line legs
The sectionTwo levelsMetro below, park above
Distances sum straight-line legs between working station references; they are not measured canal or railway lengths.
01 — The route
Manchester to Leeds.
Proposed station order. Schematic, not geographic scale.
02 — Station by station
All 16, in order.
Cumulative reference distances from Manchester Castlefield.
- 01
Manchester Castlefield
From Manchester0.0 kmMiles0.0 - 02
Middleton
From Manchester9.5 kmMiles5.9 - 03
Rochdale
From Manchester12.0 kmMiles7.5 - 04
Littleborough
From Manchester18.6 kmMiles11.6 - 05
Todmorden
From Manchester28.7 kmMiles17.8 - 06
Mytholmroyd
From Manchester37.0 kmMiles23.0 - 07
New Copley
From Manchester44.0 kmMiles27.3 - 08
West Elland
From Manchester46.7 kmMiles29.0 - 09
New Brighouse
From Manchester50.8 kmMiles31.6 - 10
Mirfield
From Manchester54.4 kmMiles33.8 - 11
Dewsbury
From Manchester62.6 kmMiles38.9 - 12
Wakefield Kirkgate
From Manchester71.3 kmMiles44.3 - 13
Castleford
From Manchester74.7 kmMiles46.4 - 14
Woodlesford
From Manchester80.9 kmMiles50.2 - 15
Hunslet
From Manchester83.6 kmMiles52.0 - 16
Leeds Central
From Manchester87.2 kmMiles54.2
03 — The system
A metro built around access
The proposed service would stop at every station. Its emphasis is frequent service, fast acceleration and short station stops, using high-capacity walk-through trains with wide doors. Frequency, capacity and operating performance remain to be established.
- Service philosophy
- Access-led, frequency-first
- Stopping pattern
- All-stop, 16 stations
- Rolling stock
- High-capacity, walk-through trains
- Boarding
- Wide doors
- Railway levels
- Two, stacked vertically
- Station access
- Lifts and stairs from the park
04 — The method
Drain. Excavate. Box. Cap.
The proposed cut-and-cover method would replace the canal along the selected corridor. A reinforced-concrete box would hold two railway levels, one above the other, with a continuous Green Spine on its lid.
Green Spine — park, walking and cycling
Concrete roof deck
Upper railway — eastbound towards Leeds
Middle slab
Lower railway — westbound towards Manchester
Base slab
Two directions. Two levels.
Station access would descend from the park by lifts and stairs.
Illustrative cross-section, not to scale. The concept shows a box about 14 metres deep; dimensions and structural design require engineering development.
- Phase 1
Drain
Dewater the canal in sections, with water diversion or temporary storage to be designed.
- Phase 2
Excavate
Excavate bank-to-bank between retaining walls. The concept proposes removing spoil by rail along the working trench.
- Phase 3
Box
Form the reinforced-concrete base, walls, middle slab and roof, with waterproofing against groundwater.
- Phase 4
Cap
Cover the deck with planting, walking and cycling paths, and station plazas.
05 — The Linear Park
A park on the lid of a metro.
When the box is capped, the deck becomes the Green Spine — a continuous public landscape over the former canal corridor, linking Manchester and Leeds.
The Green Spine — walking, cycling and public space
ManchesterThe Pennine townsLeeds
Metro below · Green Spine above
Ecology
A linked habitat corridor across the Pennines, with moorland edge, valley woodland and planting along the former canal line.
Stitching the clusters
The park is the front garden of every station city — intense nodes separated by green gaps, joined by one surface.
06 — The public promise
From mills to metros.
More homes. Better journeys. Jobs, green space, care, local benefit, skills, public governance, community voice.
Station locations and the railway alignment remain conceptual. Engineering, water management, heritage, ecology, land and community impacts require investigation.