dk1
Veteran Member
Just back from a weekend in Derby for the excellent beer festival in the superbly preserved roundhouse. On the Saturday i took a spin on the Derwent Valley line mainly to visit Crich Tramway Museum which was open for half term week.
Caught the 09.50 from Derby to Whatstandwell, 13.17 from Cromford to Matlock & the 13.36 from Matlock to Nottingham. What a difference from my last visit. Not only are the trains hourly now & direct to/from Nottingham but everything was so much improved. Stations where spotless with posters/noticeboards actually shouting about the recent success of the route. Sainsbury's at Matlock seems to have improved the station, Cromford is outstanding & Belper has even got an automatic ticket machine.
The trains where all very well used class 153s with the 13.46 full & standing for most of the journey. On arrival at Derby the guard, who hadnt stopped selling tickets, even advised beer festival folk to turn left at the top of the footbridge.
Of course it's a crying shame the route no longer continues to Buxton & Manchester but i left feeling very impressed with this line & checking the latest usage stats it is booming with Matlock alone up from 91k to 155k in just 3 years!!
Caught the 09.50 from Derby to Whatstandwell, 13.17 from Cromford to Matlock & the 13.36 from Matlock to Nottingham. What a difference from my last visit. Not only are the trains hourly now & direct to/from Nottingham but everything was so much improved. Stations where spotless with posters/noticeboards actually shouting about the recent success of the route. Sainsbury's at Matlock seems to have improved the station, Cromford is outstanding & Belper has even got an automatic ticket machine.
The trains where all very well used class 153s with the 13.46 full & standing for most of the journey. On arrival at Derby the guard, who hadnt stopped selling tickets, even advised beer festival folk to turn left at the top of the footbridge.
Of course it's a crying shame the route no longer continues to Buxton & Manchester but i left feeling very impressed with this line & checking the latest usage stats it is booming with Matlock alone up from 91k to 155k in just 3 years!!