Local integration with the railways

The National Cycle Network features a lot of off-road routes that were formerly railway lines, indeed the first section of Sustrans path was a railway between Bristol and Bath.  Although the most recent version of Sustrans aims removed the statement relating to public transport to concentrate on walking and cycling, there is still much to be achieved by integration of all three.

This article looks at that integration from a local perspective, with several recent events and articles providing an interesting backdrop.  Local routes 6, 54 and 63 within the National Forest area all feature former railway lines.

Other than Burton, the only 2 railway stations within the area are Willington on the Derby to Birmingham line and Hatton on the Derby to Stoke line.  North West Leicestershire has no stations but has the currently freight only Ivanhoe Line (Burton to Leicester) which runs alongside part of NCN63 near Church Gresley - more of that a bit later.

Another line planned to traverse North West Leicestershire without serving it directly is High Speed 2 (HS2).    This article does not intend to discuss the pros and cons of High Speed rail.  There has been much debate over the benefit of HS2, particularly in communities closest to the line.  Those personally most affected will receive forms of compensation but the communities in general tend to look towards mitigation in terms of legacy projects that aim to improve the area once the line is built.

One such legacy factor for HS2 was a network of proposed cycleways which in terms of benefits versus investment would actually have provided better value for money per person than HS2 itself whilst working along side.  Sadly, this appears to be an opportunity missed as this article from the Guardian explains.

HS2 is not the first major infrastructure project to pass close to Measham.  The A42 was built in the early 1990s to link the M1 with the M42.  Unlike the later A50 route which feature tunnels carrying cycle routes notably the former railway lines carrying current NCN routes 63 and 6 were left curtailed by the A42, hence the diversions from the original route around the thunder of the A42 at Measham and close to Breedon.

Next to the Conkachoo - a rare passenger train in NW Leicestershire!

A similar situation applies to the Ashby Canal whose original and proposed new routes would pass under the A42 and HS2 proposed route.  This leaves a pair of expensive obstacles to completion of the canal project.  The realignment of the A42 around Measham for HS2 sounds like an ideal opportunity to make provision for the canal while realignment work is done rather than an expensive retrospective engineering solution.  However HS2 does not recognise the Ashby Canal project as significant enough to include provision. From the perspective of the local economy this is unfortunate to say the least.

HS2 is not the first project to destroy the peace and tranquillity of an area of beauty.  When the Derby-Bakewell-Buxton-Manchester midland main line was built through the Monsal Valley there was uproar.  Back in 1863 art critic and culture writer John Ruskin believed the railway completely destroyed the valley.

The link with the railways is often obvious

These days the railway trackbed carries the Monsal Trail, one of the most popular cycle routes not only in the Peak District but in the country.  The views from Headstone Viaduct are tremendous and the trail is an exceptional experience as this blog item from 5 years ago explains.  As the above paragraph alludes to though the trail is in place of what was a major piece of railway infrastructure and there has been a level of support to reinstate the railway.

Could cycling and railway exist side by side here?

There have been concerns that losing the Monsal trail would be a major in terms of lost cycling and walking infrastructure - currently the line itself is a destination as opposed to a route between other destinations such as Bakewell and Buxton.  Can the railway and cycle & walking infrastructre work together? - you'd have to say this would be unlikely due to the geographical and geological nature of the route but it is worth investigating due to the significant visitors to the area (300k annually) based on the current attraction.  Despite the potential for loss of the current trail cycling groups do not necessarily oppose the re-opening.

Further down in Derbyshire, sandwiched between East Staffordshire and North West Leicestershire is the Ivanhoe line mentioned near the start of the article.  Unlike the Monsal Trail there is no risk to the adjacent cycle tracks; the line is still operational but generally needs upgrading from its current freight only quality to passenger services including several new stations.

The initial concept for the line was a large circular route via Loughbrough as explained here on Wikipedia.  The area of interest here is between Leicester and Burton as explained in this Wikipedia page.

The main aims of the line would be to reduce the traffic into Leicester from the Ashby/Coalville corridor, estimated at around 4000-6000 journeys per day.  It would also provide a link to the Heart of the National Forest so provide a useful piece of tourism infrastructure.  Several attempts have been made to reopen the line.

In 1992 the cost was estimated at £16 million.  Stage 1 was implemented but not the whole route.  Privatisation in 1995 then affected the proposals further so the project was put on hold.  Further proposals in 1997 and 1999 were unsuccessful and by 2009 the cost had risen to £50

The Ivanhoe Line features in this report.

million with estimated subsidy required of £4 million per annum or the building of an extra 268000 houses to provide patronage for the line.  These figures have been contested and continue to do so while passenger numbers rise.  The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) had stated that the cost to benefit ratio was positive.

As each new proposal is discussed the number of stations appears to become lower.  Originally a station at Moira was planned but this now looks to have been omitted, making Gresley and Ashby the closest to the Heart of the National Forest area.  A pressure group called Campaign to Re-open the Ivanhoe Line (CRIL) has been formed and a report from the local press explains more here.

Proposals are not strictly limited to the Burton to Leicester section and may incorporate Lichfield via the National Memorial Arboretum.  It will be interesting to see what progress will be made this time.  Whilst funding, cost of fares and co-operation between Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire County Councils are still significant hurdles, the fact that the line appears fairly prominently in the Campaign for Better Transport report "Case for Expanding the Rail Network" which can be read here.

Our aspiration from the proposal, if it comes to fruition, would be to ensure that the re-opened stations would be part of good quality transport links including cycling along the route and that being a tourist destination that the rolling stock provides decent capacity for bikes.  The blog has reported in the past on the inconsistency of service provided regarding taking the bike on the train as this link explains.  Hopefully if or when te line re-opens to passenger traffic the cost of tickets and complexity of finding the cheapest tickets won't be as much of a challenge as they are now.

Regardless of the Ivanhoe, or National Forest Line there is still some work to be done regarding integration with other transport at Burton-on-Trent station.  Recently we reviewed the links to and from Burton Station to the NCN and the approach to the station is far from ideal.  Another problem with onward connection from Burton, particularly to Swadlincote and surrounding villages, is the lack of buses that pass and stop at the station.  This is understandable given the precarious nature of the flow of traffic into, out of and within Burton.

Most bus services to Swadlincote depart from New Street which is a brisk 15 minute walk from the station.  The road layout near the station is currently not conducive for an interchange type arrangement although some significant work is taking place there this summer.  We're not sure of the details of the work but hope it can improve both local transport connectivity and cycling access to and from the station.  Read the link to the planned roadworks near Burton Station here.

We will monitor developments closely over the coming months and years.  There are some potentially large and exciting developments if things are done well.  Hopefully there will be some improvement in connectivity to improve our growing off road cycling and walking network.