A feasibility study into the proposed reopening of the Peaks and Dales Line between Manchester and Derby has been submitted for review to the Department for Transport (DfT).
The study has been submitted to the DfT via the Better Value Rail Working Group, which consists of the DfT, Network Rail, and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). By submitting the feasibility study, it confirms that there are no prohibitive technical, environmental, planning or delivery barriers to prevent producing a Strategic Outline Business Case.
The study suggests that reopening the line could:
- Generate £2-£8 billion in additional Gross Value Added by 2040.
- Remove up to 4.3 million car journeys per year by visitors.
- Deliver carbon savings of around 15,000-60,000 tonnes of CO2e per year.
- Provide a sustainable travel option for visitors to the Peak District.
- Improve access for people in the area who do not own or have access to a car.
- Provide sustainable access to over 17,000 potential new homes on brownfield land outside the National Park.
With only around 11½ miles of railway needing to be reinstated to reopen the railway corridor of nearly 50 route miles, it would be an efficient reuse of disused railway infrastructure.
There is an ongoing pressure on traffic throughout the Peak District, High Peak and Derbyshire Dales corridor, including severe and persistent road congestion on key routes, a great reliance on private car travel within the National Park, and limited public transport. The Feasibility Study highlights that rail reinstatement is the only solution to meet these challenges, with the study showing that reinstating the railway is a practical mechanism to protect the Peak District.
John Whitby MP, Member of Parliament for Derbyshire Dales, commented that the study marks a significant step forward for a project of both national significance and profound local importance, and reinstating the line has the potential to reconnect communities, strengthen productivity and deliver genuinely sustainable travel between the North West and East Midlands, while protecting the unique landscape of the Peak District.
The success of reopening closed lines is shown by the Northumberland Line, which reopened in 2024, and in its first month recorded over 50,000 passenger journeys. Campaigners are also hoping for the Ivanhoe Line between Burton-on-Trent and Leicester to be reopened.
“This feasibility work demonstrates clearly that the Peaks and Dales Line corridor is credible and deliverable in principle. It shows that rail reinstatement is the only intervention capable of addressing congestion, accessibility and environmental pressure at the scale now facing the corridor and provides a robust foundation for progression to a Strategic Outline Business Case.”
Martyn Guiver, Director of Operations at Peaks and Dales Line Ltd.
Responses
This is one of those lines that should have never be closed in the first place and would be an easy reinstatement as the track bed route is still available and almost in such a good state that the high capacity track laying train could relay the track in a few weeks. The real main problem is that the track route is now being used as well used footpath and cycle route and there would be a good counter argument to either not reinstate or force the plans to be changed so that train and footpath could share the track bed.
There other schemes for reopening lines that are fully operational, where told by government to reinstate passenger services but 30 years later the lines operator won’t reinstate due to a £50 sign.
Agreed and also so trans rail opportunities for road rail interchange reducing hgv use further on them narrow roads . Then offer cheap train travel to promote use of train between manchester Buxton Matlock and Derby
What will happen re the Peak Rail heritage railway operation? If Peak Rail’s line is to be subsumed back into the national network, presumably Peak Rail will have to uproot and move elsewhere.
The reinstated line could loop around the peak rail lines or peak rail could operate the new line.