A CITIZENS’ INQUIRY
This was held on 25th May 2011. The idea was to gather all the facts, and dispel some of the myths, around the issue of whether the line between Buxton and Matlock could or should be re-opened as a railway.
Our hugely knowledgeable panel covered every aspect of the issue. Why did the railway close in the first place, what did the studies up to 2004 actually conclude, what has changed since then and would they reach the same conclusion now? Could the railway re-open? What do we mean by re-open anyway, are we looking at a slow speed heritage or community line, or a high speed service to St Pancras, Paris and beyond – or something in between? Where does freight come into all this? And if it did re-open, what would happen to the cycle trail, and what else would we stand to lose?
A full report of the proceedings is available to download:
Our thanks go to:
Bill Preece, Otter Controls, who led the Inquiry
Brian Taylor, Peak District National Park Authority
Jim Froggatt, Campaign for Better Transport
Jim Seymour, Derbyshire County Council
Martin Smith, High Peak and Hope Valley Community Rail Partnership
Martin Wragg, Peak Cycle Links
Mike Garratt, MDS Transmodal
Paul Tomlinson, Peak Rail