The UK government has rubber-stamped a 137 million pound investment (153 million euros) for the Hope Valley line. The route is the major mixed-use connection between the cities of Sheffield and Manchester, and also serves as an economically critical east-west connection across the north of England. Limited capacity and anticipated passenger traffic growth has hampered freight development, but this improvement programme will provide passing loop capacity for faster traffic to overtake freight services on the predominantly twin-track line.