Final push for petition for new Buxton to Matlock rail line

Pictured is a former rail line that once linked Matlock, Bakewell, Buxton and Manchester.

The petition currently has over 8,600 signatures and when it reaches 10,000 will trigger a response from government ministers.

Organiser James Wyatt wants to encourage more people to sign the petition in a hope that a new feasibility study will take place.

He said: “A feasibility study was carried out in the past and although financially unviable at the time, a decade has now passed and it’s a whole different situation.

“Passenger numbers have grown astronomically. All but one of the stations along the current Derwent Valley Line have seen passenger numbers more than double over this time.”

The petition was launched in 2015, urging work to be done on costing the return of the old line linking Matlock to Buxton, which was completed in 1863 but closed in 1968.

James said: “Rail travel is also in demand more than ever.

“Tourism and the local economy would undoubtedly be boosted in the town of Bakewell, as well as other areas the route covers.

“There would be opportunities for freight traffic to use the line from quarries around Buxton.”

To sign the petition visit www.change.org/p/commission-a-feasibility-study-into-the-re-opening-of-the-matlock-bakewell-and-buxton-railway.