Local politician out of touch

[Skipness]

As a result of Chris Grayling's announcement about "reversing Beeching" the BBC E Midlands featured two local politicians making suggestions about what routes they would propose.
No problem with first suggestion, extending the Robin Hood line to serve Edwinstowe and Warsop.
However, number two suggested re-opening the Buxton to Manchester line. Obviously he didn't know that the Buxton to Manchester line is very much still open with a well patronised hourly service. What he was probably thinking of was re-instating the old Midland Railway main line between Matlock and Buxton. (Northwards of the quarries in the Buxton area this is also still open carrying limestone, with several trains a day)
The southern part of the Matlock - Buxton is currently occupied by Peak Rail as far north as Rowsley, but with plans to extend towards Bakewell. The section from Bakewell northwards is now used as a very popular cycle way and footpath through Monsal Dale etc.
In my opinion any change to the status quo is unlikely.

 

[Jonny]

Did he mean Matlock to Buxton? It would be very useful as an east/west link although it is unlikely in the near term.

 

[yorksrob]

If he did mean Matlock to Buxton (it's easy to tongue tied around place names when you're on the spot) then I would say its quite a good idea. There are lots of disused lines that would be of no use reopened, and a preserved railway could be given a helping hand to relocate to one of them.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Must have meant Matlock to Buxton as it is at least in the East Midlands (well, Derbyshire).

Anyway, it has been discussed to death before. I understand the superficial appeal but schemes like Edwinstowe do at least bring decent sized centres of population onto the network.

People keep forgetting how small Bakewell is (<5,000, with station site way out of the 'town' up a hill) and there really is nowhere else on the line.

 

[mike57]

Two thoughts here:

A politician out of touch, whats the surprise there... In my opinion its more unusual to find one who is 'in touch' Its not a party political thing, all parties suffer from this. Think MP's whose links to an area are tenuous.

On the subject of if he meant Matlock - Buxton, I suspect there are a good number of lines that were closed as part of the Beeching cuts that, had they survived would now be enjoying a resurgence of traffic. Buxton - Matlock is I reckon one of those, but re-opening although a 'nice to have' seems very unlikely in the current climate.

 

[al78]

Two thoughts here:

A politician out of touch, whats the surprise there... In my opinion its more unusual to find one who is 'in touch' Its not a party political thing, all parties suffer from this. Think MP's whose links to an area are tenuous.

It is not just politicians, all people are like this to some extent. Everyone is ignorant in something, and the ignorant are often unaware of their own ignorance (because you only know what being an authority in a subject means if you have the knowledge required to be an authority), and throw opinions and factoids out oblivious as to how objectively sensible they are. It takes discipline of the ego to accept that someone else knows more than you on something.

 

[thenorthern]

I get BBC East Midlands Today but even though I live in the West Midlands.

BBC East Midlands Today features strange stories sometimes though as nothing really happens in the region compared to other BBC regions and I think this may be one of them. There have been plans to re-open the line from Matlock to Buxton for many years although I can't see it happening.

Back in 2004 there were some very serious plans about a Matlock to Buxton rail link and I went to a consultation about it in the Derby Assembly Rooms. There is a link below to the plans from 2004 but they were rejected at the time for not being cost effective which I think will still be the case now.

https://web.archive.org/web/20050207225713/http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk:80/railproject/index.htm

 

[61653 HTAFC]

With regard to the thread title:

In other news, it has been revealed that the Pope follows Roman-Catholic doctrine; and that ursine creatures prefer to defecate in areas of tree coverage.

 

[RichmondCommu]

With regard to the thread title:

In other news, it has been revealed that the Pope follows Roman-Catholic doctrine; and that ursine creatures prefer to defecate in areas of tree coverage.

Did you perhaps mean to say do bears **** in the woods?

 

[IanD]

Given that the article was about the East Midlands then calling for the re-opening of the line to Buxton and Manchester does not seem unreasonable. Yes, the line between Buxton and Manchester is open but the bit that connects it to the East Midlands is not.

 

[DarloRich]

Is a slight "miss speak" worth such froth?

 

[sprinterguy]

Is a slight "miss speak" worth such froth?

Of course not, but this forum - and no doubt many others across a wide range of interests where members consider themselves experts - thrives on the most trivial of minutiae.

 

[yorksrob]

I get BBC East Midlands Today but even though I live in the West Midlands.

BBC East Midlands Today features strange stories sometimes though as nothing really happens in the region compared to other BBC regions and I think this may be one of them. There have been plans to re-open the line from Matlock to Buxton for many years although I can't see it happening.

Back in 2004 there were some very serious plans about a Matlock to Buxton rail link and I went to a consultation about it in the Derby Assembly Rooms. There is a link below to the plans from 2004 but they were rejected at the time for not being cost effective which I think will still be the case now.

https://web.archive.org/web/20050207225713/http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk:80/railproject/index.htm

Indeed, a sensible proposal which for some options was found to cover it's running costs, even at 2004 traffic levels.

Of course the capital investment couldn't be justified because improved access to disconnected settlements doesn't show up as much of a benefit in terms of existing services.