Northern is set to double seat capacity for services through the Hope Valley this summer in a bid to take more cars off the road in the Peak District
The stunning Hope Valley line which runs between Manchester and Sheffield provides direct access to extremely popular outdoor stops set amongst breathtaking surroundings such as Grindleford, Hathersage, Bamford, Hope and Edale.
Usually, Northern operates a three-carriage service but through weekends, the majority of those services will be doubled up to become six-carriage trains which will operate in each direction.
Northern revealed the news in March when they signed a deal with Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire to become one of its new strategic partners.
Chris Jackson, regional director at Northern, said: “Northern is committed to working with partner organisations to promote tourism in the Peak District and Derbyshire.
“We want to help increase the value of the area's visitor economy and raise its profile as a world-class visitor destination – and the more cars we can take off the road as part of that project the better.”
Jo Dilley, managing director of Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire, said: “We're delighted that our strategic partners at Northern are increasing capacity on services through the Hope Valley for the coming summer season, offering easy car-free access to some of the Peak District's best-loved places.
“Having increased capacity not only helps to lessen the impact of cars in these sensitive locations, reducing congestion and pollution, it also opens up possibilities for walkers being able to use them to enjoy circular routes, helping us develop more active travel choices for everyone to enjoy.”
As Britain's first National Park, the Peak District offers a host of delights for visitors from rugged hillsides, steep valleys, staggering vistas, an abundance of history and delicious local food.
Operating over 2,000 services each day to more than 540 stations throughout the North of England, Northern is the second-largest rail operator in the country.
The best way to get a car free Peak District would be to reopen Matlock to Buxton!
The impending strike will put people back in cars, in Peak District and everywhere else.
Hope Valley line signals are controlled from old manual boxes so that means no trains will run on strike days and probably few on the days around them. Limited mainline services will run but best not to try trains that week.
I’ve also just read that, due to a (very welcome) Network Rail improvement project to the track layouts and stations in the Hope Valley, the stations are all going to be closed during weekends throughout the Summer, with bus substitution. It’s unfortunate that this clashes with Northern Rail’s initiative to boost passengers on this line at the same time, by lengthening its trains. I wonder if Network Rail and Northern Trains actually talk to each other?
Not quite correct. The line from Dore Station Junction to Bamford will be closed on Saturdays and Sundays in July to allow engineering work to lay a second track through Dore & Totley station and to build 2 new loops at Bamford and Dore to allow freight services to be overtaken. That has been in the planning system for over 20 years and the whole scheme won’t be fully completed until autumn 2023. It has to be done some time to get the longer term benefits. Network Rail’s blockade plans have been known to all the train operators for well over a year.
So ‘Northern’ intend to increase seat capacity ? My experience of the Hope Valley line over the past twelve months is that ‘Northern can’t honour their published timetable with trains regularly cancelled or running late.
How does ‘Northern’s’ proposal tie in with your other article, ‘Multi-million-pound upgrade of Manchester to Sheffield railway line’, ( the ‘upgrade’ being the reinstatement of a lifted loop ) where the work entails closure of railway stations and diversion of trains at weekends ?
A cut in fares or special offers may help?
Although any increase in rail services is to be welcomed, I really don’t think that adding some extra carriages to existing Northern services through the Hope Valley will get us much, if any, closer to a “car free Peak District”. This would at least need the re-opening of the other Peak District lines that were all closed in the 1960s – especially the Midland route from Derby to Manchester via Monsal Dale and Buxton, and the Sheffield to Manchester Woodhead route. The headline for this article is journalistic over-enthusiasm I think!