Help save it from RAIL FREIGHT & QUARRY STONE! 

We may lose The Monsal Trail as we know it, and we need your help to secure it as one of the most unique walks in the U.K. and one of Derbyshire’s great tourist attractions that promotes visitors, and brings valuable trade to the area. 

It’s proposed that the trainline be re-instated which means losing trail as we know it. This is heavily supported/pushed by the quarries who want to shift more stone. The last feasibility study concluded that a passenger service would run at a substantial loss so it’s not conclusive we would actually see a passenger service. But most definitely we’d see heavy rail freight. Due to the topography it is not possible to have rail and trail within the valley. If rail wins, the trail will have to follow the route of the B6465. The whole appeal of walking along the same line, through the same tunnels will not be possible if the line is reinstated.  A proposal that is sponsored by two MP’s and the Peaks and Dales Railway Ltd has already been submitted to the DfT. The lead sponsoring MP Robert Largan has already formally written to the HS2 minister Andrew Stevenson MP requesting the line be included in the up and coming Rail National Infrastructure Program. https://www.peaksanddalesrailway.com/reinstatement There is also a petition advocating this proposal that is gaining momentum https://www.change.org/p/re-open-the-railway-between-matlock-bakewell-buxton-and-manchester yet there has been no voice to contest these proposals. We propose to offer a counter voice before we lose it. 

The tunnels were opened up to the public In 2011 at a cost of £2m. They offer one of the most spectacular leisure routes in Britain for cycling, walking, running, bird watching and horse riding to name just a few activities. With breathtaking views of historic mills from the industrial revolution, they offer a unique glimpse of our history and beauty combined in one walk. A very unique tourist attraction that brings people to Derbyshire. 

Tourism trade - It is not safely viable to have both trail and train using the same track, especially through the tunnels. Because of this the trail has to be moved away from its current location. This very action completely changes, and reduces the unique appeal of the trail, of walking through the tunnels, along the same viaduct - it just becomes a trail. This reduces the appeal of one of our key tourism assets that is partly responsible for Derbyshires £2.3 billion tourism trade that many of our local business rely upon and the 30,000 people they employ. In a recent footfall study Conducted by the Peak Parks using connected sensors positioned at various locations along the trail, they stated “More than half of visitor movements analysed - 330,000 - made use of the Monsal Trail, running from Bakewell to Blackwell Mill.” (source: https://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/learning-about/news/archive/2019-press-releases/news/happy-trails-half-a-million-visits-to-peak-district-routes