 Lockwood Beck site | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Official name | Mineral Transport System (MTS) |
| Location | North Yorkshire |
| Coordinates | 54°29′39″N 0°54′01″W / 54.4942°N 0.9002°W |
| Status | Under construction |
| Crosses | |
| Start | Woodsmith Mine (Sneatonthorpe) (54°26′06″N 0°37′18″W / 54.4350°N 0.6216°W) |
| End | Wilton (54°35′52″N 1°06′18″W / 54.5977°N 1.1051°W) |
| Operation | |
| Work begun | April 2019 |
| Constructed | 2019– |
| Owner | Anglo American PLC |
| Traffic | Polyhalite |
| Character | Mineral transport |
| Technical | |
| Design engineer | Strabag |
| Length | 23 miles (37 km) |
| No. of tracks | 1 (Maintenance train) |
| Operating speed | 13 miles per hour (21 km/h) |
| Highest elevation | 390 feet (120 m) |
| Lowest elevation | 1,180 feet (360 m) |
| Tunnel clearance | 20 feet (6 m) |
| Width | 20 feet (6 m) |
The Woodsmith Mine Tunnel (also known as a Mineral Transport System [MTS]) is a 23-mile (37 km) long tunnel that will stretch between Woodsmith Mine at Sneatonthorpe near Whitby in North Yorkshire and the Wilton International complex on Teesside, England. The tunnel has been in development since 2016, but cutting of the tunnel bore did not start until April 2019, with a projected finish date of 2021, but it was still not complete by the end of 2023. By the end of July 2020, over 4 miles (6.4 km) of tunnel had been dug.
When finished, the tunnel will be the longest tunnel in the United Kingdom and will also house the longest conveyor in the UK.[note 1][1][2] The estimated cost of the tunnel in November 2018 was £1.1 billion.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "Crossrail to miss December opening date". BBC News. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
- ^ "26 MILES OF NEW RAIL TUNNELS CONSTRUCTED BENEATH YOUR FEET". crossrail.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 June 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2019.