Ecclesbourne Valley Railway to Open In Full Next April

[nferguso]

The following press release may be of interest:

FOR IMMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway
Contact: Neil Ferguson-Lee
Email neilfl@wyvernrail.co.uk

GREEN LIGHT FOR APRIL OPENING: DUFFIELD TO WIRKSWORTH TO OPEN IN THE SPRING
WIRKSWORTH RETURNS TO RAILWAY NETWORK WITH CONNECTIONS TO DERBY, LONDON PARIS AND BRUSSELS

Wirksworth, 1st December, 2010: The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is delighted to announce that the entire Duffield to Wirksworth branch line will open to the public in early April 2011.

Following a ten-year restoration project, the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway will become an operational passenger railway after a ‘pause’ of 64 years and will offer a four or more train service between Duffield and Wirksworth at weekends and on other operating days in the season between April and October.

The initial timetable has been designed to connect with East Midlands Trains’ Nottingham to Matlock service and this opens-up connection opportunities to other national rail destinations including London and, via Eurostar, to Paris and Brussels. Every service from Wirksworth has a connection to both European capitals.

Further details of the reopening programme will be released nearer to the time and more information can be found at www.e-v-r.com.

Ends.


Briefing for Editors:

This is an important event which has been the result of 300,000 hours of volunteer effort, £600,000 of share capital and £900,000 of support from a range of grant-awarding bodies, including the East Midlands Development Agency, Awards for All, The Derbyshire Aggregates Levy Grant Scheme and The Local Heritage Initiative.

A significant media event will take place on at the opening ceremony and the press are invited to attend. Please contact Neil Ferguson-Lee at neilfl@wyvernrail.co.uk for further details.

About the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway:

WyvernRail plc is working with the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway Association to reopen the Duffield to Wirksworth railway in the heart of Derbyshire.

The line passes through the beautiful Ecclesbourne Valley to the award winning and beautifully restored town of Wirksworth, nestling at the foothills of the Peak District.

The line is a time capsule, with its intermediate stations largely intact and the layout at Wirksworth virtually unchanged since the days of steam.
There are 8½ miles of single-track railway, which meet the Midland Main Line at Duffield Junction near Derby. There are five station sites, two level crossings, a yard with extensive sidings and a mineral branch to the old Middlepeak quarry at Wirksworth. Since 2004, 4½ miles of the line have been reopened and it is planned to complete the reopening in April 2011.

 

[Wyvern]

It's rather handy that the up and down Derby-Matlock trains arrive at Duffield almost together which will help the EVR in providing a connecting service.

 

[nferguso]

It's rather handy that the up and down Derby-Matlock trains arrive at Duffield almost together which will help the EVR in providing a connecting service.

Sheer good fortune from our perspective but this is topped-off by EMT being an excellent company with which to work. Without giving away any secrets, I think it's safe to assume that our services will operate in close concert with EMT on a number of levels.

 

[sprinterguy]

I think it has to be asked, just how much demand is there from the inhabitants of Wirksworth for travel to Paris and Brussels? I would have thought that the creation of connections to the likes of Nottingham, Leicester and Sheffield would be a tad higher up the list of priorities….

Joking aside, this is great news, it means that the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway will become much more accessible, which will hopefully boost its’ patronage substantially, congratulations to all those involved in efforts to reconnect Wirksworth with train services on the National network.

 

[nferguso]

I think it has to be asked, just how much demand is there from the inhabitants of Wirksworth for travel to Paris and Brussels? I would have thought that the creation of connections to the likes of Nottingham, Leicester and Sheffield would be a tad higher up the list of priorities….

Joking aside, this is great news, it means that the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway will become much more accessible, which will hopefully boost its’ patronage substantially, congratulations to all those involved in efforts to reconnect Wirksworth with train services on the National network.

The Paris thing has been a bit of a strapline for our project for a long time. In reality, virtually every other private railway could claim the same thing but for us it really represents how Wirksworth wasn't even on the railway map ten years ago but now one will soon be able to go from there to Paris exclusively by rail.

What I would like to promote is Paris and Brussles to Wirksworth but you are right that Nottingham, Leicester, Sheffield and even London (not to mention Derby!) would be great markets to tap into.

Do come and visit us: it's a very pretty line, a good length (nine miles) and Wirksworth makes a great destination for the enthusiast and general traveller alike.

 

[sprinterguy]

I have indeed visited the line in the past , about a year or so ago, and even with the shorter length of operational line I have to say that it was very nice. I'll definitely be back to sample the Duffield extension!

 

[gingerheid]

I was very excited and pleased for them when I got the e-mail!

I hope the planned service is just the beginning; it would be nice to see some viable commuter journeys too (whether operated by EVR or EMT!)

 

[nferguso]

I was very excited and pleased for them when I got the e-mail!

I hope the planned service is just the beginning; it would be nice to see some viable commuter journeys too (whether operated by EVR or EMT!)

Thanks for your good wishes: it's been a bit of a long haul but we're looking forward to the result.

Just beware that the connection to the main line was removed about seven years ago, so through trains are, sadly, out of the equation for the time being.

As far as a service is concerned, now is the moment when we start to build it up. There will be four trains a day for 76 days next year and each one will connect with a Nottingham - Matlock (or Matlock - Nottingham) service. It will be great if we can build it up from there and this is certainly our intent.

 

[Wyvern]

Article in Derbyshire Life: Wirksworth was a town when Canterbury was a village and Liverpool was a swamp, or so they say . . . . .