The proposed route runs along trackbed owned by Network Rail that was constructed in the 1840s by the Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway (later the Great Central Railway) as part of their line between Manchester and Sheffield. This line, which became known as the Woodhead Line, closed to passengers in 1970. The portion of the Woodhead Line that the Don Valley Railway propose to use is currently used as a freight-only line linking the national rail network with tracks owned by the steelworks at Stocksbridge.