Introduction

 

 

MEMRAP was established in 2019 on behalf of the Promoter, Peaks and Dales Railway.

 

Members and supporters include local stakeholders, local residents and businesses from areas served by or near to the railway, as well as potential users of the railway and interested parties. 

 

The Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA) have reported that around 90% of the 13.25 million annual visitors to the Park arrive by private car. So, it is no surprise that traffic volumes, noise, parking and pollution remain significant issues for the National Park.  The PDNPA figure doesn’t include all through traffic.

 

These traffic problems do not just affect the National Park.  The routes to and from the Park also suffer from high traffic volumes, poor connectivity and high vehicle emissions. 

 

The campaign objectives are to raise profile of the proposals, secure additional public and stakeholder support and to raise funds to support the development of the early stage business cases.

 

 

Strategic Context

 

Our proposals are being developed as  a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP); as defined in The Planning Act 2008.  This means our ‘submission(s)’ for the proposals are expected to be handled by the Planning Inspectorate, and that approval for the proposed reinstatement will ultimately be a decision made by the Secretary of State for Transport.

 

The reopening of the railway provides local, regional and national benefits.  Our 'strategic context' statement(s) highlights the benefits and includes:

 

  • improving passenger and freight connectivity between the North-West and East Midlands;

  • tackling the “unsustainable” use of private vehicles to, from, through and within the Peak District National Park;

  • providing additional railway capacity lost as a result of the High Speed 2 Manchester Leg cancellation;

  • catalysing growth and tourism across the communities the line will serve;

  • supporting the decarbonisation of surface transport;

  • benefiting the environment by reducing a range of emmissions as well as investing in the natural enviroment of the National Park and surrounding areas;

  • increasing opportunities for access to social, education and employment opportunities within and outside the communities served by the line;

  • driving 'modal shift to rail' for passengers and freight;

  • reconnecting the communities isolated without the railway by delivering a sustainable, high capacity transport solution, integrated at stations with other modes of transport;

  • improving access to / from the National Park for those that do not have, or choose not to have a car;

  • improving quality of life in local towns and villages by reducing road traffic, noise, air pollution and parking problems;

  • improving and speeding up longer distance travel compared with road alternatives.

 

As part of the business case development, we continue to review and evolve our strategic context with the support of the Department for Transport.

 

 

Benefits of

Re-opening

Our evaluation of benefits continues to be developed, including the financial benefits.

 

Some of the current identified benefits include:

 

  • re-connecting 150,000 residents of central Derbyshire directly to the UK’s main line public transport rail infrastructure, including the 38,000 residents of the National Park itself
  • re-linking local communities across Derbyshire and beyond
  • acting as a catalyst for inward investment into the areas the railway serves
  • reinstating a ‘North West to East Midlands’ public transport connectivity spine for Derbyshire
  • integrated transport solutions at stations
  • unlocking and enabling substantial modal shift to rail, reducing the 90% arriving by car while delivering significantly increased accessibility
  • significantly improved business, community and leisure travel
  • resolving the rail infrastructure blockage between North-West and East Midlands regions that, today, stunts economic growth across these regions; 
  • unlocking and enabling improvements in the Hope Valley, recognising TfN’s recent shelving of the proposed trans-Pennine road tunnel
  • shifting road freight to rail, consistent with Network Rail and Rail Delivery Group aims to augment freight connectivity and capacity
  • enhancing tourism with both heritage rail and rail excursion capacity
  • Key Cycle Network: building on the recognition in the cycle lobby that this project could aid and accelerate (by years) the development of this appealing county-wide active transport initiative
  • Glover Report: delivering a substantive contribution to many of the aims set out in Jonathan Glover’s 2019 report, stretching well beyond the section covering the role of public transport
  • #NetZero: accelerating and focusing proactive plans to reduce emissions for the National Park and along the A6 corridor and beyond, ahead of the statutory 2050 UK target for net zero carbon. 

 

 

Funding

 

DEVELOPMENT FUNDING

 

We are currently an unfunded campaign, apart from membership subscriptions and donations - for all of which we are extremely grateful.

 

We operate on a minimum cost basis and we would not exist and continue to grow without all of those members, and third party organisations who are involved in supporting the campaign by giving us their precious time, skills, knowledge and experience when we need it, and at zero cost to the campaign.

 

Although we already have a highly experienced team contributing to various elements of the proposals, we are always open to new members and supporters.

 

A key priority for the campaign team is to raise, in stages, the necessary funding for the additional resources required to develop the business case.  We will share more about this in due course.

 

Our Better Value Rail (BVR) development process is establishing the areas of support required beyond the commitments already received. 

 

Further information on how you can help can be found on the 'Supporting Us' page.

 

If you believe you could assist us further please use the ‘Contact Us’ form.

 

delivery FUNDING

 

These funds enable the physical reinstatement of the line, the necessary upgrades, plus the associated trail and other works

 

The Promoter (as defined by the Department for Transport) is Peaks and Dales Railway Limited.  The Promoter is responsible for project delivery.

 

The Promoter has identified a number of organisations within the private sector who have expressed an interest in investing in the scheme subject to the necessary terms and conditions being agreed. 

 

This approach enables the delivery of the proposals to national safety and design standards at potentially lower total lifetime costs than the current Network Rail project delivery approach, affected, as it is, by amongst other things stop/start government policy making.

 

Once the campaign reaches a certain point within the consents process, Peaks and Dales Railway Limited, initially a shell company, will activate fully as required by that process.  This approach supports our value for money approach to the project.

 

MEMRAP will continue to campaign to raise the profile of the proposed reinstatement and, longer-term, is envisaged to support the reinstated line as its 'Friends' organisation.

 

Campaign Status

 

 

dft assessment

 

The Department for Transport (DfT) assessed our proposals for a second time in 2022, as part of a submission in the Restoring Your Railway Fund process.

 

Whilst we were not succesful in securing a financial contribution to our proposals, we were able to secure valuable feedback, guidance and, importantly support for continuing to develop our proposals.

 

The feedback provided by the DfT and the Secretary of State for Transport confirmed that our proposals:

 

  • provide a strong case for levelling up;

  • demonstrate the positive impact the railway would have on the local and regional economy;

  • make a strong case for addressing transport problems.

 

We continue to develop our proposals alongside the Promoter and we are working directly with the DfT to ensure we meet all the required criteria of our future business case submission.

 

business case development

 

We are extremely grateful for the support we are receiving from the Department for Transport (DfT), with the development of our intial outline business case through a DfT process called 'Better Value Rail'.

 

Better Value Rail (BVR) enables us to prepare an initial outline business case for DfT to assess the key components before we need to invest in additional resources to complete the Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC).

 

BVR provides an opportunity for us to receive feedback on any gaps we may have in developing the SOBC, thereby ensuring the development of this key document is completed in a more cost-effective and efficient manner.

 

The BVR process, once completed satisfactorily, will also mean that we will be able to share more details of our proposals with interested and affected individuals and organisations, including our key stakeholders.