TRU Legacy Path
A new active travel route connecting Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York
The TRU Legacy Path is a proposed accessible route across the Pennines, designed for walking, wheeling and cycling. Once complete, it will link Manchester to York, following the corridor of the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) and connecting communities all along the way.
This is an exciting, long-term vision and right now, we’re at the start of that journey.
What is the TRU Legacy Path?
EPIKS work promoting active travel is in the front line of local and national efforts to tackle climate change. Transport contributes 30% of all UK carbon emissions so this is an area where our personal choices really can make a difference. So what’s active travel? Active travel refers to journeys made by walking, wheeling (using a wheelchair or mobility aid), or cycling, promoting physical activity and offering a sustainable alternative to motorized transport.
Our new Walk Wheel Ride Active Travel Hubs in Huddersfield, Holme Valley and Batley and the Spen Valley will help local people find different ways to travel and reduce their carbon footprints by enabling them to make lower carbon travel choices more of the time.
Check out our online Walk Wheel Ride Active Travel Hub where you can find lots of information about local walking groups, cycling groups, cycle training, accessibility guides, routes to explore, news and events, information about bike shops and instructors and much more!
The Path would build on existing dedicated paths and quiet routes, filling in the gaps with new infrastructure to create a single, joined-up active travel corridor across the Pennines. It would:
- Build on what’s already there connecting existing paths and quiet routes with new links where they’re needed most
- Serve all 23 stations along the Transpennine Route Upgrade, making it easy to combine rail travel with walking, cycling or wheeling
- Support rail patronage by helping create a better-connected network across the region
It’s part of Network Rail’s First & Last Mile programme, which promotes better-connected journeys, and is backed by seven local authorities and three combined authorities across the route.
Where things stand right now
This is very much a live, evolving project. A feasibility study is currently being completed by Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (WWCT), looking in detail at how a route like this could work in practice from the existing paths and infrastructure already in place, to the gaps that would need to be filled, and the partnerships needed to make it happen.
Engagement and promotion for the project is being led by EPIKS (Environmental Projects in Kirklees), working alongside WWCT and with the support of the Transpennine Route Upgrade and Network Rail.
There’s no fixed route or delivery date yet – this is the foundational stage, where the case for the Path is being built and the right people are being brought together to plan what comes next.
Our partners
Feasibility study delivered by Walk Wheel Cycle Trust
Engagement and promotion by Environmental Projects in Kirklees
Network Rail’s First & Last Mile programme promoting better connected travel working with seven local authorities and three combined authorities