Plan to re-open railway station in North Derbyshire town is welcomed

Clay Cross is located on the Midlands Main Line but does not have a station, with the nearest being in Chesterfield and Alfreton.

With the population expanding and local businesses and projects flourishing, a £24.1m Clay Cross Town Deal has been granted, opening the door for a possible railway station to be re-opened.

North East Derbyshire District Council is progressing work and consultants will prepare a feasibility study into the options.

North East Derbyshire District Councillor and Clay Cross Town Board Interim Chair, Councillor Charlotte Cupit said, “Clay Cross is a growing town, and so part of the Town Deal investment is looking at potential infrastructure improvements.

"We have a separate Clay Cross Connections project looking at our road network, but this is also a good opportunity to look at the possibility of re-opening a rail station in this area.

“Whilst it is very early days, the feasibility study will give us a clear direction on what could be possible for Clay Cross and help get us ready for any future government bids or projects.”

The study will focus on council ambitions and the needs of the residents and businesses in Clay Cross.

Clay Cross councillor Ted Mansbridge, who is a member of the Railway Station Study Working Group said: “This will be a good thing to push for and I fully support it, especially with the redevelopment within Clay Cross and it will give the town an opportunity to move forward. But I understand that the realistic views of a new station are long term and it might take years until the station is re-opened.”

Councillor Mansbridge explained that the location for the potential station had not been decided, but possible areas have been highlighted including next to the former Biwater site, the location of a previous railway station.

Parish councillor Brian Wright added: “We believe a lot of the A61 gridlock issues could be eased by commuter’s travelling on the train from Clay Cross to Chesterfield or Alfreton and further. Hopefully part of the £24 million town deal can be used to help provide this.”

Local businesses have welcomed the idea with open arms as they believe it would attract more customers to the town.

Gail Hanan, of Totally Locally Clay Cross said: “Our ever increasing small business community have been collaboratively working to try and increase footfall back into our town for the past couple of years.

“Linking Clay Cross to other nearby towns and cities would make our town more accessible and hopefully bring more footfall along with boosting our local economy"